


What You Mean To Me

by thiamtrash



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 04:18:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 39,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12975729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thiamtrash/pseuds/thiamtrash
Summary: Theo is back from Hell, thanks to Liam. So what does that mean for the rest of the pack? Is he the same Theo or has he changed?





	1. Chapter One

Theo’s POV

“Do you even know how to ride a horse?” I questioned, rolling my eyes as Liam tried to control the horse he was straddling. _What an idiot._ I did everything I could to keep this hot-headed, stupid, impulsive, brave little puppy from being taken like everyone else in the God forsaken town and he was just _walking_ right into it! Everything I did, everything I endured to save him was now for nothing and yet, I found myself admiring the beta below me. He’s a better person than I am, though; there is no way that I would do what he’s doing now. ‘Maybe for him’ I thought. I shook that thought away from my mind and stared incredulously at Liam, waiting for an answer. 

“Not really,” came his reply; short and simple. He turned the horse around and galloped toward the woods. Next stop, The Wild Hunt; population, most of Beacon Hills. 

I continued to watch as Liam galloped away, toward his demise, and I felt the smirk grow on my face. No, a smile. A genuine smile; it’s the first genuine smile I’ve had on my face in a very long time. I felt my body start heating up and realized that the heat resonated in my chest. My heart, _Tara’s heart,_ was beating faster than before; what the hell is happening to me? Saving Liam? Admiration for Liam? Smiling because of Liam? Caring for Liam? Being out of the ground has changed me, maybe too much. 

‘Clear you head,’ my mind told me. And with that, I turned away from the banister and headed down the stairs of the abandoned high school. I kept walking and walking until I realized that I was in the middle of the woods, destination unknown. This is the first time I’ve been alone since being brought back from hell. _Thanks to Liam._ I shook my head again; why does everything come back to Liam?! I don’t even like him; he’s idiotic and rash and stubborn and… brave and caring and.. – 

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of roaring in the distance. It’s been a while since I heard it, but that sounded like Scott’s roar but there was something different about it; was that a pained roar? There it was again and it was definitely Scott’s roar; except it was accompanied by another one. Scott was in a fight and from the pitch of his roar, he wasn’t winning. Before I knew what was going on, my feet were taking me in the direction of Scott. I didn’t know what I would do when I found him – I mean Scott hates me, he wanted to put me back in the ground for god’s sake. But Liam wouldn’t let him and Liam would do whatever he could to help his Alpha. There the thought was again, _Liam._ In that moment, I decided that I would do whatever I could to help the True Alpha, for Liam. After this, maybe I won’t feel like I owe him anymore. 

As I came into the clearing, I heard the familiar voice of the Alpha WereLion, Douglas, “You of all people, Scott, should know what happens to a lone wolf.” 

“He’s not alone!” I yelled. All eyes turned to me; McCall’s red eyes, Douglas’ green eyes, and the black soulless eyes of the 20 Ghost Riders standing by. “He’s got a pack.” My trademark smirk was back as I stepped from around the final tree in my way and focused my attention on Douglas. 

“And Theo’s not in it!” I cocked my head to the left to see Malia strutting her way over to me, with Peter trailing behind her. I rolled my eyes at her as she stopped right next to me, her attention on Douglas and the Ghost Riders. Even when I’m trying to help, she just has to find a way to make sure I know my status with her and the rest of God McCall’s pack. “But I am.” 

“I’m not; part of the pack, but no one likes a Nazi,” Peter said with a smile. 

Scott let out a growl, signaling it was time to fight, looked to the three of us and nodded. I felt the familiar pain of my claws ripping from my cuticles and my fangs growing. Malia’s all too familiar (and oh so _friendly_ ) growl next to me caused my eyes to shine a blazing gold and we ran toward our enemies, dodging the green flashes of the Ghost Riders bullets that were flying our direction. 

Scott’s claws collided with Douglas’ chest at the same time Malia, Peter and I engaged the Ghost Riders. The first blow I made was against the Ghost Rider that was aiming its gun at a distracted Malia; I jumped over the shot that was coming for me and kicked the Rider as his gun went off. The blast hit a tree just a few feet from Malia’s head, who turned around with a glare in my direction. I shrugged and she growled out a “careful” before turning her attention back to her group of enemies. “You’re welcome,” I muttered but I’m sure she heard me, turning around just in time to flip the Rider charging at me over and digging my claws into its chest. 

My movements were on autopilot; I didn’t even have to think about what to do next, my body just reacted to its surroundings. Rider after Rider came at me and fell one by one with my claws and fangs digging into their chests, necks, heads, anywhere I could get them; screw Scott’s no killing rule, these things wouldn’t stop coming at us unless we put them down ourselves. 

From the corner of my eye, I could see Peter and Malia teaming up on a group of Ghost Riders and took a moment to admire the way they work together and their tenacity. They fought like a real team, a pack, and that’s something that I’ll never be able to experience. To no one’s fault but my own, there is no chance in hell that I will ever be able to fight next to someone as pack or even as a team; I’ve made too many mistakes in my life. 

But Liam and I fought like a team, back at the hospital, didn’t we? We were in sync with out movements and helped the other to make sure we both got out alive, even though we both swore we wouldn’t save the other. So, why did he? Why did I? I had told him: “While they’re shooting bullets at your head, or tying a whip around your neck, I’ll be running the other way.” But when the Ghost Rider’s bullets started raining down the hallway, I did just the opposite; I charged into battle with the angry little beta right next to me and then actually pushed him into the elevator, to _save him._ But why? I couldn’t put my finger on it, but for some reason, that little puppy with explosive tendencies made me want to be better, to do the right thing. And damn it, I am going to try. For me, not for him; why would I try for him? I mean we’re not pack and we’re not friends; no, this is for me. I can’t end up back in that hole the pack sent me to and Liam brought me out of.

I was so tangled in my thoughts, that I didn’t notice the whip that was heading right toward me. I noticed just in time to move my body so the whip would not wrap around my neck and send me off to whatever limbo the Hunt was in. However, the whip did graze my shoulder and I hissed in pain. “Damn it!” I yelled through gritted teeth, clutching my shoulder. Thankfully, the whip didn’t go deep enough but it still hurt like a bitch, green smoke emanating from the wound. The pain caught me off guard long enough for the Rider to approach and kick me in the stomach, sending me to the ground. The Rider then raised his gun, pointed it right to my head, and I closed my eyes. This was my fate? Get pulled out of hell, only to spend the rest of eternity in limbo? I must admit, it sounds like something I deserve; going from one limbo to another. 

Just when I expected everything to go black, there was a _thud._ I opened my eyes to see the Rider still standing in front of me but his gun had been dropped to the ground. I glanced up just as the creature collapsed to the ground as a bloody, clawed hand was pulled from the back of its neck. The bloody, clawed hand belonged to Peter, who stretched his other hand out to me to help me up. “Come on! We don’t have all day,” he growled. I took his hand and let him pull me up so we were face to face. “Let’s win this Nazi war… again,” he smiled.

I just smirked at him and nodded. We turned and saw Malia and Scott still taking on Douglas but they were obviously no match. Peter and I exchanged a knowing look and ran toward our allies. Before we could reach the action, though, more Ghost Riders appeared in front of us. We bared our fangs and claws, let out a roar and went to work; after slashing and clawing and biting at the roadblock in front of us, we finally could see what was going on with Scott, Malia and Douglas. 

Malia was thrown to the side as she reached for the whip at Douglas’ hip and she smacked into a tree, letting out a pained sigh before falling unconscious. Scott took a moment to look at his fallen pack mate before turning his attention back to Douglas and continued their fight. 

I ducked under the blow a Ghost Rider was aiming for my chest and rolled toward Malia. I looked back at Peter and conveyed a _‘You got this?’_ with my eyes. He just nodded before continuing his onslaught against the Riders and I turned my attention to Malia. I reached my fingers to her neck to check her pulse; “good, she’s still breathing,” I said out loud. 

The sound of a train horn echoing through the woods distracted everyone; everyone except Douglas. He took this moment to slash Scott across the back and knock him to the ground. 

“Ze Hunt approaches. There is nothing you can do now!” Douglas yelled triumphantly as he walked toward the diverter, guarding it. 

The look on Scott’s face mirrored the one on mine; we lost, there was nothing left do. I looked down at Malia again and noticed that she still had Douglas’ whip in her hands. “This could work,” I said hopefully. I grabbed the whip and turned, “Scott!” He turned and met my eyes as I threw the whip in his direction. He caught it and stared at me with a confused look on his face and I simply nodded in the direction of the diverter. He nodded back and stood up. 

“It’s not over yet!” Scott growled as he flicked his wrist and the whip toward the diverter. The smile on Douglas’ face faded as he realized what Scott was doing. He made a jump for the leather strap to stop Scott from doing what he planned but he missed it and fell to the ground. The whip wrapped around the rod and Scott pulled it back, shifting the diverter in the opposite direction just as the train barreled past us, now going away from Beacon Hills. 

We did it; we saved Beacon Hills. Everyone would return to the town now. Stiles, Melissa, Sherriff Stilinski, Argent, Corey, Mason… Liam. I shook that thought out of my mind; just because I helped save the town and everyone in it, doesn’t mean the pack is going to just forgive me now. 

Scott went and checked on the now recovering Malia as Peter helped her up. “Let’s get back to the school.” 

When we made it back to the school, Stiles, Lydia and the Sheriff were all waiting outside by Stiles’ jeep. 

“Where’s Liam?” I asked. I hadn’t known I said that out loud until 6 pairs of eyes were on me, staring at me confused. “….and Mason, Corey, Hayden?” I added, sighing. Nice recovery, I told myself. 

No one answered, but as if on cue, there was the aforementioned puppy pack heading our way. I felt a smile creep up on my face as my eyes found Liam, arm draped over Hayden’s shoulders and laughing. Mason was helping a limping Corey. The four of them smiled and waved when they saw the rest of their pack (and me) and kept their pace toward us. 

“What happened to him?” came Stiles’ voice as he stepped forward. 

When the four came to a stop in front of them, Liam and Hayden glanced over to Corey before Mason answered, “It’s a long story, we’ll tell you later.” He smiled and placed a kiss to Corey’s temple and squeezed him tighter. Corey’s smile grew and he leaned into his boyfriend’s embrace. 

“Okay, so what is he doing here then?” It took me a moment, only a moment, to realize that Stiles question was pointed toward me. “Shouldn’t he be rotting in a ground somewhere?”

Before I could speak up and defend myself, Liam was doing it for me, “Stiles, Theo is part of the reason why you’re here right now. Be a little grateful.” All eyes shifted between Liam and Stiles. I’m completely able to defend myself, but it felt nice having Liam speak up for me; it felt like maybe we were friends or something. Liam looked over to me and I smiled at him, mouthing a ‘thank you.’ He nodded in response and returned the smile before turning his attention back to Hayden, kissing her. In that moment, I felt something that I’d never felt before but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, so I ignored it and just looked back to Stiles. 

“What is he talking about?” Stiles asked me, eyes squinting. 

Again, all eyes were on me. I looked to Liam, hoping he would again offer up some help but he just nodded at me, telling me to go on. “After you were taken, no one,” I pointed to everyone in the pack, “could remember you. Liam then came up with the brilliant idea of bringing me back in hopes that I would know something about the Wild Hunt and a way to stop it. What he didn’t count on though, was that I would remember you.” I swore I could hear a gasp escape Stiles’ mouth. 

“Go on,” he said, motioning his arms for me to keep explaining. 

“There’s not much left to say, honestly,” I shrugged. “We kept fighting the Ghost Riders, people kept getting taken until Liam and I fought our way to the hospital. I held the Ghost Riders off long enough for Liam to get into the Hunt to save everyone and I went to fight Douglas with Scott, Malia and Peter.” I crossed my arms over my chest as I finished my explanation, everyone still looking at me. 

The silence was beginning to get maddening; I swear if someone doesn’t say something soon, I’ll snap. Suddenly, Stiles let out a sigh and walked over to me. When he was just a few feet apart from me, he stretched his hand out toward me. I looked down and stared before looking back up to meet his eyes. Confusion was obviously being conveyed through my eyes as Stiles sighed and said, “Thank you. Really. Not only did you help save me, you helped save the whole town.” He smiled as he finished talking. 

I returned the smile and took his hand, maybe, just maybe they will forgive me and accept me into the pack. “This doesn’t mean that I forgive you, and you’re definitely not part of the pack,” and there it is. Of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. I sighed and let go of his hand, “but thank you, nonetheless.” 

The pack returned to their chattering and catching up while I stayed off to the side with Peter. It was getting to be time for me to leave; I’m not pack, I’m not even a friend, so I shouldn’t be here. What I needed to do was figure out what I’m going to do now that I’m back in Beacon Hills. Should I leave? Should I go back to school? Should I just get a job? Where am I going to sleep? What am I going to eat? I didn’t know how to answer all these questions in my head, but I knew one thing: I would figure it out. I always do. 

I turned to walk away but was stopped by Peter, his hand on my shoulder. “You’re just going to leave?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“They don’t need me anymore,” I replied softly. I turned my head and looked at Liam holding Hayden in his arms and the rest of the pack, standing in circle, all laughing at something Stiles was saying. “I don’t belong with them anyway.” I gave Peter a small smile, removed his hand from my shoulder and started to walk toward the exit of the parking lot.

“Perhaps not,” Peter replied, stopping my feet. “But neither do I and you don’t see me running away.” He took a step forward and continued stepping forward to close the gap between us before adding, “do what you have to do kid, but don’t give them power over you. They may never forgive you for what you’ve done, but all that matters is that you forgive yourself if your truly trying to be a better person.” I opened my mouth to argue his statement but he raised a hand and continued before I could get a word out, “they might not be able to see it, but I can. The pre-Hell Theo would not have wasted any energy saving the very people he tried to manipulate, the people he tried to kill, the people who sent him to Hell. I don’t know what you went through down there, but you’ve changed. You and I are a lot alike, Theo.” I scoffed at the comparison, “it’s true. We both tried to kill Scott to become Alpha, no one trusts us but we’d do anything for those we care for,” he added before turning to look toward Liam. 

Was it really that obvious that I’d grown to care for Liam? If Peter off all people was able to pick up on that, even though he wasn’t with us at the hospital, then maybe everyone could tell. _Except for Liam._ Stupid Liam, saving me from Hell, making me his responsibility, instilling courage inside me during the fight with the Ghost Riders, making me care whether he lives or dies. What the hell has he done to me? I didn’t let myself entertain these thoughts because no matter what I do, he and the rest of the pack will only see me as their enemy, someone who betrayed them and they probably thought I would do it again if given the chance. I let out a small laugh at this and looked back to Peter. “You’re right, I have changed. I don’t care about having a pack anymore,” I lied, keeping my heart from skipping a beat to hide the lie. “I just want to go get my truck and be alone, like I was always meant to be.” Peter didn’t say anything after I finished, he just nodded and turned back to face the pack when I flashed my trademark smirk and continued walking away. 

I don’t know why I care so much about leaving them right now, it’s not like I expected to be welcomed with open arms into their pack. And what did I even expect from Liam? I mean, a part of me felt like during the fight in the hospital with the Ghost Riders, we had made a connection and had maybe started down the path of becoming friends or something. I scoffed at the thought. Liam and I? Friends? That’ll never happen. We can’t stand each other. Or rather, he can’t stand me; but that doesn’t matter anyway. 

I continued walking until I reached the parking lot I left my truck in before I was sent, well you know where. As I reached the door, I felt water hit my face. “Good thing I got to you when I did, my beautiful baby, I missed you,” I said low with a chuckle. “I would not like to be stuck out here in the rain; I don’t have any extra clothes with me.” The statement that just left my mouth was so ironic, it made me laugh. It’s true, I don’t have any extra clothes; but the clothes I’m wearing are already so slashed and cut up from the earlier battles that a little water wouldn’t do more damage. Frankly, I just didn’t feel like sitting in wet clothes. Another drop of rain hit my face and I looked up to the night sky to catch a glimpse of the chaos above before the downpour began. The view I was met with, though, perplexed me. There were no clouds and no rain; it was a clear night in Beacon Hills. The realization hit me like a Berserker punch to the face when I reached my hand up to my face to wipe the water away. I will never let him or any of the rest of the pack know that they, unbeknownst to them, had made the big bad Chimera, Theo Raeken, cry.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How will Liam react when he learns that Theo has disappeared?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Here is Chapter 2 a little earlier than I anticipated! I really hope it's worth the wait!

Liam’s POV

We actually did it; we defeated the Ghost Riders and saved the town! The smile I’m currently wearing has been plastered on my face since Mason, Corey, Hayden and I walked out of the Wild Hunt and back to our pack. No amount of words could explain the elation I am feeling right now – Beacon Hills was back to normal, the pack is safe and Hayden is in my arms; nothing could be better. So why did I feel like something was missing? I turned my head and looked to the pack; taking in the smiles and relief on each of their faces. Mason and Corey were standing arm in arm, Mason supporting Corey’s weight as he was still healing; Scott and Malia were talking with Lydia and Stiles who were apparently together now; Sheriff Stilinski had left to check on the rest of the town; Peter was hovering close to Malia, but keeping to himself; and Hayden was still beneath my arm next to me, looking like she was about to fall asleep. After greeting everyone’s eyes with my own, I finally found what was missing. The only problem was that it wasn’t a something that was missing, but _someone._ Where the hell was Theo? The smile on my face finally faded and I dropped my arm from Hayden’s shoulders. She glanced up at me with confusion when the warmth of my arms disappeared and asked, “Are you okay?” with a shaky yawn. Instead of answering, I just looked at her and stepped toward the center of the group. 

“Where’s Theo?” I asked, worry spiking in my tone. 

Everyone’s eyes shifted toward me and Malia spoke up, “Who cares? As long as he’s far away from me, I don’t care where he is.” The same smug tone was present as with every other time she talked to or about Theo. 

“Amen,” Hayden, Corey, Mason and Stiles said in unison, nodding their heads. 

I looked at everyone in disbelief, were they kidding right now? “Guys, seriously. Did any of you see where he went?” Someone had to of seen him leave; I mean he’s not a chameleon like Corey, he can’t just become invisible! 

“Why do you care?” Hayden asked, the confusion returning in her voice. “He tried to kill all of us months ago, one night of playing on the good team doesn’t warrant a place in the pack.” It was hard not to notice the roll of her eyes, a blind person couldn’t even miss it. 

For some reason, I felt anger building in my body at her comment but stopped myself from letting out a growl. Why did her comment bother me so much? No, Theo wasn’t pack but he had saved my life and helped me with the Ghost Riders tonight; he deserved to at least be here with us, among friends. Right? But we didn’t even consider him a friend or an ally; he was just someone who supplied us with information and forced him to help us stop the Wild Hunt. The guilt hit me like a truck – we had used him. Used him for his knowledge of the Hunt, used him for his help against Douglas and the Ghost Riders and we all just shoved him aside once everything was finished, forgetting everything he’d done to help over the past couple days. But I wouldn’t. I won’t ever forget how he saved me by pushing me into that elevator and took on the Ghost Riders alone so I could get to Scott. That Theo, is not the same Theo we put in the ground months ago. This Theo, he tried to help us, he tried to be better, to be good and I could see it in him. 

I realized that it had been a while since I said anything when Scott was speaking up, “I appreciate everything he’s done over the past couple days to help us, Liam, it doesn’t change anything. I still don’t trust him and I don’t want him anywhere near my pack.” 

“We could just put him back in the ground,” Malia chimed in. 

“Except we can’t,” Hayden replied, stepping forward and crossing her arms. 

“What do you mean?” Scott asked, turning his attention to the female beta. “Why can’t we put him back in the ground?” 

I knew this wouldn’t be able to stay hidden for long but I wasn’t ready for the consequences just yet. Oh well I thought as I closed my eyes and let out a sigh before I spoke, “I broke the sword.” 

I could almost feel every neck snapping toward me when I said those words. “You did what?” Scott growled, eyes flashing as he stepped closer to me. 

I could feel my wolf wanting to back down and cower from my alpha, but I forced myself to stiffen my shoulders and step forward, “I broke the sword, Scott.” 

I expected another Scott lecture to come up but it was Stiles that was speaking this time, “Why the hell would you do that? You had no right.” I rolled my eyes at him. Sure, Stiles, jump back on the ‘I hate Theo’ train now that Scott was shoveling coal into the fire. 

“He had information we needed regarding the Wild Hunt. He wouldn’t give us the information until I broke the sword. It was either break the sword or try to figure everything out on our own.” 

“Typical,” Malia sighed. “I told you it was a bad idea to trust him! He just wanted to get you to break the sword so that we couldn’t put him back in the ground and he could get away. Who knows what kind of havoc he is wreaking right now!” 

“He won’t do anything,” I said, letting out a lengthy breath. They all hadn’t interacted with Theo like I had tonight, they didn’t know what I did. “He’s changed.” 

“You don’t know that, Liam!” Scott yelled, eyes flashing red again. “He has manipulated us all before, he could be doing the same thing now!” A growl emanated from his lungs as if there was an enemy standing right in front of us. 

“Scott, he _saved_ me! He _fought_ with you, Malia and Peter! He had chances to kill us or let us be killed tonight and he didn’t do it!” My anger was skyrocketing, but I didn’t care. If I didn’t think Theo had changed, I would be the first person to say, ‘Lets hunt him down!’ but I know he’s different. If the rest of the pack would just give him a chance, they would see what I do. It’s not like I’m asking them to let him into the pack! I mean, I don’t trust him either but that doesn’t mean that we should just completely shut him out! 

“And that could be part of his ploy, Liam,” Hayden tried to reason with me. “He’s tricked you once before, he could be trying to do it again now. We should get Sheriff Stilinski or Parrish to lock him up.” She walked over to me and took a hold of my hands before squeezing them and continuing, “ _Please,_ Liam. We can’t take this risk.” 

I didn’t want to admit that she could be right about him but she was making sense. I looked down into her eyes and could see that this wasn’t coming from a place of hate, but of worry. She was concerned about what he could do to us this time and wanted to make sure we would all be safe. That’s what I wanted too; for all of us to be safe. _Theo included._

“Listen, Liam. I’m not saying we should lock him up,” Scott said, glancing at Hayden. “But we do need to keep an eye on him.” 

“We could just kill him,” Malia added with a smile. “I’ll even do it for everyone.” 

An involuntary growl ripped through my chest and glared at Malia; I could see Peter moving closer to Malia from behind her. How could she be so cold? Don’t get me wrong, it’s a normal Malia thing and we’re all pretty used to it by now but this was going too far. I won’t let her kill Theo in cold blood, just because she hates him. 

“Alright, calm down,” she laughed, rolling her eyes. “What do you suggest then?” 

I took a breath to calm down before continuing, “We need to find him and make sure he’s okay.” After all he did to help tonight, that’s the least we could do for him, right? Make sure he didn’t have any life-threatening injuries and thank him for helping us. 

“He’s fine.” 

My eyes immediately shifted to find the source of the voice that uttered those words: Peter. 

“How do you know Peter? He could have some injury that needs attention!” 

“He seemed perfectly fine when he walked away 10 minutes ago,” he said nonchalantly, crossing his arms over his chest, as if none of this mattered to him. 

“You saw him leave?!” I growled, flashing my eyes at him. 

“Yes? Isn’t that what I just implied?” Peter questioned with raised brows. He turned his attention to Stiles next to him and continued, “this is the kid we are trusting to be alpha when Scott and the rest of you lot go off to college? Wouldn’t be my first choice.” My anger was only continuing to boil and was about to surface; I was ready to pouch on him and tear his face off before Malia was turning and scolding him.

“Shut it, Peter!” she growled. She crossed her arms back over her chest and turned back to me. 

“Why did you just let him leave?” I asked, taking a step closer, eyes still burning a golden yellow. 

“He wanted to leave. Said he didn’t belong with you or the pack,” he replied. “And I suggest you take a breath and calm down before this turns ugly,” his words almost a growl as his own eyes flashed a cold blue and stepped forward. 

I let out a growl and moved forward to meet his challenge, only to be stopped by Hayden’s arms on my chest and Malia speaking up again. “I never thought I’d say these words but he’s right,” she said, making Hayden, Mason and Corey laugh but I could tell she was trying to ease the tension between us. 

I took a deep breath and took in the warmth of Hayden’s arms on my chest, feeling myself calm down and my eyes returning their normal ocean blue color. “He’s made mistakes, sure,” I began. “But he helped us tonight when he could have killed us. How is he any different than Peter? And we all trust him enough to fight with us and give advice when we need it!” I really can’t figure out why I’m trying to reason with the pack so much on Theo’s behalf but the treatment he was getting was just not fair. 

“Well, Theo actually succeeded in killing Scott….” Stiles mumbled, almost sounding impressed. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and let out a small chuckle just as Malia barked out a laugh. 

“Hey!” Peter grumbled, obviously displeased with the acknowledgement of his failures. 

It unsettled me how quiet Lydia had been throughout this whole exchange; she had just been standing hand in hand with Stiles, taking in everything the pack was saying. I looked directly at her with pleading eyes and addressed her, “Lydia, please, back me up here!” 

She glanced up into my eyes and then around to the rest of the pack. “I think Liam’s right,” she said quietly. “I’ll be the first to say that I don’t trust Theo, but like Liam said, he had every chance to kill us tonight and he didn’t do it.” I smiled at her and was about to thank her before she cut me off, “but I also think that the others are right Liam, he doesn’t belong in this pack.” Her stare was unwavering and I knew there was no changing her mind; not that I disagreed. Theo is not pack and he probably never will be, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t hang around sometimes. 

“Fine, maybe you all are right. But I think I am right too. He isn’t a danger to us anymore, I know it. Can’t we just leave him be and confront him if he starts causing trouble?” I pleaded. At the very least, he deserved the chance to live a normal life. 

“Fine, Liam,” Scott began, stepping closer to me. He placed a hand on my shoulder and spoke again, “but whatever happens is your responsibility.” 

I gave him a smile and nodded. Noshiko told me the same thing before I let him out of the ground and I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. I have faith in Theo; I know he’s changed, I know he’ll be better. 

**

It had been three weeks since the Hunt ended and no one had heard a peep from Theo. I took this as a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it meant that Theo was keeping out of trouble; bad because I didn’t know if he was okay or if he was dead. 

Life in Beacon Hills returned to normal. Scott, Malia, Stiles and Lydia returned to school and graduated, ready to start preparing for their lives outside of Beacon Hills. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t freaking out every second of every day and dreading the moment they, especially Scott, left Beacon Hills. I’m not ready to take over and be Beacon Hills’ new Alpha. I decided that I would try to spend every minute of every day of summer vacation with Scott so I could learn everything about being an Alpha from him and so that I can see him as much as possible before he left. Scott is like a big brother to me; ever since he bit me, he’s been the one person I can truly rely on whenever I needed help. Him leaving and placing the safety of Beacon Hills, the pack and his mother in my hands fucking terrified me to no end. 

Today, Scott took me out to the Preserve to teach me how to find the Nemeton, if I ever needed to. We had been walking for what felt like hours in the woods, summer sun beating down on our heads, skin sticky with sweat that has been rolling down our bodies. The only thing that was more uncomfortable than the way my clothes clung to and chafed by body, was the silence between us. Scott could obviously tell there was something wrong with me because he grabbed my arm, stopping me, and turned me so that I was facing him. 

“What’s on your mind?” he inquired, eyes soft with concern. 

I turned my head so I could meet his gaze and took a breath, trying to mentally ready myself for the upcoming conversation. “It’s n-nothing. It’s…. It’s just I don’t want to let you down,” I said, letting out a shaky breath, moisture beginning to fill my eyes. I glanced up warily, not wanting to see the look in his eyes, knowing it would be confused and hopeful. 

“Hey,” Scott said softly, bringing his hand to my chin. He forced my chin up so that our eyes met and he continued, “Liam, are you kidding me?” His face contorted from concerned to serious. My breathing sped up and I started trembling, feeling the lump in my throat blocking any words I’d try to say. Scott must’ve realized that I couldn’t speak because he continued, “Liam, you could never let me down. You’re my first bitten beta. You’re like a brother to me. Some would say you’re like a son to me. Liam, nothing you could ever do would let me down. You’re such a good person; strong, caring, supportive, brave, intuitive. You’re everything that constitutes an Alpha. I wouldn’t trust you with the well-being of Beacon Hills, the protection of my pack, my _mother,_ if I didn’t think you could handle it. Liam, I know that you’ve been worrying about taking over and leading the pack alone but you’re never truly alone. If you ever need us, all you have to do is call and we will be here. You also have the rest of the pack; Hayden, Mason and Corey. They’ll follow you and back you up. And if you get into a really tight spot, even Peter will step up to help.” He pulled me into a strong, warm and comforting embrace and held me for a moment, trying to calm me down. He separated us and put is his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes again. “Liam, I trust you. Will you make mistakes? Hell yes you will. But that’s normal; I made so many mistakes when I became an Alpha. But you will learn from them and get better. You, Liam Dunbar, are the worthiest person of leading Beacon Hills now; you’ve earned it.” He finished with a small smile and that’s when the water works started. 

I felt the warm liquid pool in the corner of my eyes and begin to fall down my cheek like a broken dam. Scott pulled me into an embrace again and rubbed my back, willing me to get it all out. My breathing hitched as I tried to form words, so I focused on calming down. 

When the tears stopped flowing, I pulled back from Scott and took in his compassionate look, “Th-thanks-s-s, S-Sc-Scott. I’ll t-try my best.” The words were barely comprehensible through my sobs but Scott understood what I was trying to say. 

Scott smile once more and said, “that’s all you can do, Liam.” I returned his smile and felt myself calm down some; I didn’t feel completely ready to take this task on and I know that I’ll have another moment like this again before he leaves but it was nice to hear. “What else is bothering you?” I turned to him and offered a confused, unknowing look but he continued “Liam, I know you. This isn’t the only thing bothering you; so, what else is going on?”

Sometimes I hated that he could read me like an open book. Of course there was something else bothering me and I’m sure he already knew what it was; he just wanted to hear me say it out loud. The fact that I haven’t seen or heard from a certain missing Chimera in three weeks concerned me. I thought that he would’ve at least reached out by now, let us, me, know that he was alright but I haven’t heard anything. 

I let out a deep sigh and spilled to Scott, “I just thought that I would’ve heard from Theo by now is all.” I felt a frown form on my face, evident disappointment showing. Scott took in what I had just said to him and reached his hand behind his head to rub his neck. 

“Maybe that’s a good thing, Liam. If we haven’t heard anything yet, maybe you were right all along,” he said with a small, forced smile. “Maybe he has changed and is just trying to live a normal life.” 

“Yeah, I guess,” I shrugged. I guess that would make sense, wouldn’t it? He’s moved on to a new town, started fresh and was now living a somewhat normal life. Good for him. He’s moved on and forgotten all of us. _All of us who hate him,_ I reminded myself. But not all of us do, right? I haven’t fully grasped what I had grown to feel about Theo yet. Do I still hate him? Do I consider him a friend? Do I even care about him? Yes, my mind answered immediately. I don’t know why, but I for some reason I had grown to actually care about what happened to the stupid, smug Chimera. Why? He helped us one time and it was mainly to help himself, wasn’t it? Yeah, he only did what he did for self-preservation like always. 

“Liam?” Scott asked, interrupting my thoughts.

“Hm?” I hummed. 

“You haven’t said anything for a few minutes. What’s going through your head?” he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. 

I looked up and met his stare, “Oh, it’s n-nothing. It’s fine. He doesn’t need us, just like we don’t need him.” I dropped my head and stared at my feet. 

“Liam. You know it’s okay to care about him, right?” Scott asked softly. 

I snapped my head up and looked at him with disgust, “what?! I don’t care about him, Scott. The only thing about Theo Raeken that I care about is the fact that he is my responsibility and if he does anything to anyone, it’ll be on me.” I gave Scott a stern look to convey the seriousness in my words, whether they were completely true or not. I definitely do care about Theo but that it something Scott and the rest of the pack don’t need to know. 

“Okay, Liam,” Scott replied, raising an eyebrow. “Whatever you say.” 

Scott turned on his heel and continued walking through the clearing, probably focusing his attention on finding the Nemeton. I followed closely behind, thanking whatever higher power is out there that Scott either didn’t notice the lie I told him or just didn’t bring it up. No one in the pack will ever feel as _disgusted_ about the fact that I, Liam Dunbar, care for Theo Raeken than me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave me some comments below and let me know what you think! :) I really enjoyed reading your guys' feedback on the last chapter. It really made my day! :) 
> 
> If you want to stay up to date on what's going on with this Fanfiction, you can follow me on instagram @thiam_is_real
> 
> Thank you again for reading. You're all awesome <3


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo has left Beacon Hills to be on his own. But he quickly learns that being on his own is a lot harder than it used to be. 
> 
> I don't know, I'm really bad at summaries. Sorry guys! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Theo’s POV

My eyes flew open as I jolted upright, body shaking and panting as my lungs tried to fill back up with oxygen, hair soaked with sweat that was rolling down my face and water stinging my eyes. I reached my hand up to clench my chest;  _it was just a dream._ I let out a sigh of relief and slumped back down and closed my eyes again.  _When will this end?_ Every night since coming back has been the same – I’d fall into a deep sleep only to be trapped in an endless nightmare that always ended with my heart being ripped out and waking up in the morgue, only for the process to restart. When I finally managed to wake myself up, I’d be trembling and out of breath, sticky with sweat and trying to stop the tears from escaping. 

I opened my eyes back up and looked out the window as I blinked the tears away, the sky is still a dark blue but there’s a hint of pink on the horizon. It’s almost morning. Almost time to move my truck and figure out where I’d be sleeping when night fell again.  

I propped my body up onto my elbow and leaned to the floor to pick up the pen that I discarded the prior morning and the napkin I kept underneath the backseat. Placing the napkin on my raised knee, I carefully drew another slash on the thin paper next to the others and counted them. Twenty-one. I let out a heavy sigh as I let the pen fall back down to the floor of the truck with a small  _thump_  and slowly placed the frail napkin back in its resting place. It’s been just twenty-one days since I ‘left’ Beacon Hills. In actuality, I’ve spent three weeks wandering around the different towns and vast array of woods surrounding Beacon Hills, unable to will my body to go farther. Three weeks of being away from the supernatural, away from  _them._ I shook the thoughts out of my head; I’ve always been on my own, it’s always been just me. And I preferred it that way, I always told myself, but I knew it was a lie. Part of me wants to jump in the front seat of the truck right now and speed back to into Beacon Hills, back to the pack, back to-

My internal rambling was interrupted by the loud and exasperated grumble of my stomach. I’ve never been so happy to be so hungry in my entire life than in this exact moment, just so I didn’t have to finish the thoughts I’ve been fighting for twenty-one days. 

I laid my head back down and closed my eyes, ignoring my hunger and shifted my thoughts so I was thinking about what I was going to do with my life now that I was a free man, instead of everything that resided in Beacon Hills. The possibilities ran through my head on repeat and eventually they lulled me back into my slumber. 

**

My eyes snapped open, only to be met by a familiar darkness. This is never going to end. The claustrophobia took over and I started to panic; my body was thrashing around in the small rectangular metal chest, arms flailing and smacking against the cold hard walls. I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself because I’ve been here before, many times before. _‘Just open the door and climb out,’_ I told myself. But that’s the problem, my body knew what was waiting for me on the other side of the metal door and it wanted to put off the inevitable for as long as possible, going against everything my head was willing it to do. 

_It’s going to happen no matter how long I wait here,_ I sighed. This cold box won’t hide me for long, I’ll be found and then I’ll wake up here again. I forced my body to go against its instincts and shimmied my way toward the light at the end of this rectangular tunnel, slamming my foot several times against the door until it flew open. 

I slid my feet out and onto the floor, gripping the top ledge of my cell as I pulled the rest of my body out into the familiar open setting. _The Morgue._ This was by far my least favorite room located in Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, probably my least favorite place in the world. Somehow the air in the open space of the morgue made me shiver more than the confined slab in the wall I just woke up in. I clapped my hands together and brought them to my face, rubbing them together and breathing hot air into the crook; trying desperately to get some heat flowing through my body to stop shivering. That’s when I heard it, the familiar calling, wailing, of my name in the distance. The sound made my body instantly stop its efforts in warming up, head snapping toward the door of the morgue and a chill ran down my spine, causing me to shiver even more. _She’s coming._

I bolted for the doors and slammed my hands against them, swinging them open and ran into the dark corridor of the empty hospital. I looked down the dimly lit hallway toward the nurse’s station; nothing. I turned my head and looked down to the other end of the hallway; still nothing. Even though this has happened over and over again every night for the last few months, I still dread our meetings every time I hear her ghostly wail speaking my name. 

_Theooooo._

The calling of my name snapped me out of my thoughts; I turned on my heel and began running toward the nurse’s station. I don’t know why I run every time, I know how it ends. I’ve tried every escape option at least five times before and yet here I am, trying them again. There is no escape. 

_Theooo._

Her tone sounded playful, as if she was a cat looking for a mouse. She was enjoying this. She wanted me to suffer for what I did to her, and honestly, a part of me wanted it too. I turned to the right when I got to the nurse’s station and ran until I collided with the front doors of the hospital; locked. I shook the doors vigorously, trying with all my might to get them to open, but to no avail. 

_Theo._

The whisper against the back of my neck made me stop shaking the doors instantly and I closed my eyes. _‘This is it,’_ I thought. I turned around and met my sister’s cold stare; I gazed at her with an apologetic look that I know would never be enough to convey how sorry I am, not even words could express the guilt I feel. “I’m sorry, Tara,” I spoke, voice shaking. “I’m just so sorry.” She didn’t say anything, but her expression changed from cold to confused. _‘Maybe this time will be the last time,’_ I thought. _‘Maybe she will just end me and I won’t have to go through this again. Or maybe she will do what she does every other time and end me, only for me to wake up and go through this again.’_ I have to admit, I kind of hoped that the former would be the case, I don’t know how much more of this I can take. Though I know I don’t deserve mercy, I couldn’t help but hope that she shows it to me and just lets me die. For real this time. 

The cold expression returned to her face and she smiled slightly. _Here we go._ Her hand shot up from her side and burrowed its way into my chest, clenching my, _her,_ heart. 

I gasped when her hand found what it was looking for and I stilled my body. There was no use in fighting this anymore. “I deserve this,” I said softly, though I know she heard me. In a single fast motion, she ripped her hand from my chest, clenching her heart as she stared at me and looked down at the bloody organ in her hand. My body started to gasp for air but my lungs weren’t working; I looked into Tara’s eyes as a tear fell from mine and I collapsed on the ground. The last thing I saw was Tara dropping her heart on the ground next to my body and everything went black. 

**

My eyes opened to the familiar darkness. _Not again; why can’t I just wake up?_ My body began shaking, hands trembling as I started thrashing around, my arms banging against the walls. Taking a deep breath I told myself, _‘You’ve been here before. Calm down.’_ But deep down I knew there was no way I could calm down; I was just going to keep reliving Tara ripping my heart out over and over and over again for the rest of my miserable life. _‘Just open the door and climb out,’_ I told myself. I know she’s waiting for me out there but I can’t stay here; she’ll find me anyway, this is her world. I’m just her play thing, waiting to be caught and destroyed and reset again. My body didn’t want to move, perfectly content to just stay where I was and let fate control how this would end. 

I decided to again force my body to do what it didn’t want to and I pushed my way toward the door that blocked me from my doom. I began stomping my foot several times against the door until it flew open. I slid my feet out and onto the floor and pulled the rest of my body out into the morgue. My body was shivering again standing in the middle of the room and I tried to get warm by clapping my hands together and rubbing them roughly. That’s when I heard it; Tara’s familiar calling of my name in the distance, signaling that she was on her way to me, to make me pay. Hearing her voice made my body freeze, eyes snapping toward the door of the morgue and when she called my name again, a chill ran down my spine, causing an involuntary shiver. 

I breathed out a heavy sigh and slowly walked toward the swinging doors of the morgue. I placed a hand on one of the doors and pushed it slowly so it opened just enough for me to slip out and step into the hospital hallway. I looked down the dimly lit hallway toward the nurse’s station; nothing. I turned my head and looked down to the other end of the hallway; still nothing. Even though this has happened over and over again every night for the last few months, I still dread the moment she catches up to me and takes what belongs to her. 

_Theooooo._

The calling of my name snapped me out of my thoughts; I turned on my heel and ran toward the nurse’s station. I don’t know why I decide to run every time, it always ends the same. I’ve tried every escape option at least five times before and yet here I am, trying them again. There is no escape.

_Theooo._

Her tone sounded playful, a predator toying with its prey before putting it out of its misery. She was enjoying this. She wanted me to suffer for what I did to her, and honestly, a part of me wanted it too. Instead of turning right, I turned to the left when I got to the nurse’s station and continued to run. I don’t really know what I expected to find going this way, there were the same rooms I’d passed every other time I came this way. Then I saw something that I hadn’t tried before; the elevator. I sprinted over to the metal doors and smashed my fingers against the buttons. _‘Maybe this is the way to escape this place,’_ I thought hopefully. After all, this is the way that I saved Liam and got him out of the hospital; perhaps this elevator could save me too. 

_Theoo._

She was getting closer and closer to me with each passing second but the elevator still wasn’t opening up. I looked up and saw that it was currently 2 floors above me and was indeed on its way to my rescue. “Come on!” I yelled, slamming my fingers against the buttons again. “Hurry up!” The elevator dinged and the doors started to open just as I felt the familiar breath against my neck. 

_Theo._

My eyes widened, _‘Damn it!’_ I thought. I slowly turned around as the elevator doors finished opening up and met Tara’s gaze. It was the same cold look she’s given me every other time we’ve come face to face here. “Tara, please. Don’t,” I pleaded. “I know I deserve this for what I did to you, but _please,_ don’t.” The tears were threatening to escape my eyes again as I begged my sister to let me go. “I’ll just get into the elevator and you’ll never have to see me again. I’m so sorry Tara. I’m sorry for not helping you; I’m sorry for letting you die; I’m sorry for taking your heart; I’m sorry for being a shitty brother.” The tears began to fall when she reached her hand up and I closed my eyes, waiting for the air to leave my lungs. My eyes opened in shock when her hand came to my cheek instead of my chest. I looked at her, her eyes on mine, expression unreadable as she rubbed her thumb against the skin of my cheek. I moved my hand slowly and tried to cover hers with mine but she yanked hers away before I could touch her. Her expression turned cold again and she whipped her hand up and into my chest, causing all air to leave my body. She yanked her heart out and I collapsed backward into the elevator, landing in the same spot Liam did when I threw him in it that night. My vision began to go black as the elevator doors closed. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, coughing up blood. I guess the elevator could only save one person after all. 

**

My eyes creaked open to meet the darkness that surrounded me. I laid in the cold metal box, no thrashing, no flailing, and no panicking this time. I just continued to lay there, defeated, ready for this all to end. Nothing I do, nothing I say will change the outcome and that’s okay. I deserve this; she deserves to do this to me. _Let’s get this over with._ I pulled myself toward the door, kicked it open and slowly pulled myself off the slab. 

Tara was there, already waiting for me. I sighed and stepped closer to her, her eyes following my every movement. When the distance between us had closed, I reached my hands up and grabbed her shoulders firmly so she couldn’t pull away. I needed to say this, _do_ this, before she killed me and we restarted this cycle again. I gave her an affectionate look and spoke, “I _am_ sorry, Tara. Saying it will never change what I did, but I need you to know that I am sorry for what I did.” I didn’t let her react; I just pulled her close and wrapped her in a hug. 

“It’s okay,” I whispered into her ear. “You don’t have to stop.” Her arms raised and wrapped around me, returning my hug; or so I thought. I felt her hand dig into my back to find her heart and she ripped it out, letting me go in the process. The air left my body again and I collapsed. As everything began to fade to black, I heard a loud pounding that didn’t stop. 

_KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK._

**

My body shot up as my eyes opened, lungs refilling with air and sweat rolling down my body. I took in my surroundings; I was in the backseat of my truck. Blanket thrown over half of my body, clothes and contents of my duffle bag covered the floor, keys on the console. The sky was bright and the sun was coming up, it was morning. I let out a sigh and a small chuckle, I was _awake._

I remembered what had woken me up when the pounding continued. 

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

I turned around and was met with the face of a Police Officer peering into my truck window. He looked stern and unhappy that I had kept him waiting as I gathered myself after waking up. He made a motion for me to step out of the vehicle and I complied, opening the back door and stepping out onto the ground barefoot and shirtless. 

“You can’t sleep out here, you know that son?” He asked. 

“Yeah, sorry,” I said, raising my hand to my neck and rubbing it. “I’ll move.” 

I made to go back to my truck to move but he spoke again, “What are you doing out here anyway?” He inquired with a raised eyebrow, clearly taking in all the clothes that were thrown on the floor of my backseat. 

I cut him off before he could continue his thought, “I was on my way to a friend’s house last night but got tired before I got there. I pulled over to rest for a few minutes so I wouldn’t crash but I guess I fell asleep. It won’t happen again, sorry.” I gave him a small, awkward smile, hoping he would buy the lie I laid out for him. 

He looked at me with disbelief but shook his head, “Ensure that it doesn’t. It’s not safe out here at night, especially for kid.” He clapped his hand on my shoulder and gave me a nod. “Make sure you head to your friend’s straight away,” he said before turning to walk back to his cruiser. 

“Will do, Officer. Thank you,” I replied with a wave and walked back to my truck. 

I threw on a shirt from the backseat floor and went to the driver side, hopping in and starting it up. I threw the truck in gear and took off down the road, looking for a new place to park for the day and night. 

**

I drove around for what felt like hours, just looking for a place to park for the night. I had been driving so long that at some point I stopped paying attention to where I was or where I was heading. I didn’t even notice that the sun had now risen all the way and was now beaming down on me or the low grumbles coming from my stomach every so often. 

I subconsciously pulled off on the next dirt road and followed it all the way back until I was able to hide my truck underneath some low hanging trees. I put my truck in park and leaned back against the seat, closing my eyes with sigh. _‘This’ll have to do for tonight,’_  I thought. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep through the night without being woken up by the police or the nightmares that have been plaguing my dreams the past few weeks. 

My stomach grumbled again, pulling me from my thoughts. I reached my hand into the duffle-bag on the floor in the backseat and searched for the power bar I left there yesterday. I pulled it out and ripped the packaging open. It wasn’t much but food is food, it’ll get me through the day at least. I haven’t been eating much lately; with the lack of money and a job, I had to be on a strict diet. Taking a bite, I realized that this was the last of food and it was about time for me to figure out what to do about money; I couldn’t keep living like this. 

I let my head fall back against the seat again, took a deep breath and replayed the questions that run through my head every day. What am I going to do? What am I going to eat? What am I going to do about money? Could I even manage to get a job? Nobody wants an ex-murderous psychopath working for them, let alone a high school dropout. Should I go back to school? Would I go back to Beacon Hills? If I graduated, would I try to go to college? 

The more I thought about the things that I’ve done and how they’ll hinder me from becoming something in the future, the more upset I got. I felt water swelling up in my eyes and I shook my head, trying to push them away. I needed to get my mind on something else, and fast. 

I decided to go for a run through the woods to clear my head. I hopped out of my truck and quickly changed into a pair of running shorts and sneakers. I locked up the truck and took off sprinting down the path that lead into the woods. 

I don’t know how long I’d been running but eventually I came up to a sign. I stopped in front of it to catch my breath and read the words that were displayed on the sign. When the words registered in my brain, the breath left my lungs again; Beacon Hills Preserve. How the hell did I end up here? I’ve been trying to stay out of Beacon Hills for three weeks and I let my subconscious take over the driving for one day and it brings me back?! I mean I knew I couldn’t stay away forever; I just wasn’t strong enough to stay gone. But I didn’t think to be back here so soon. I wasn’t ready to see any member of the pack; I especially wasn’t ready to see Liam. I needed to figure out whatever it is I was feeling – _feeling, that idiot had me feeling things_ – when it came to the beta with IED. What is he doing to me? Why do I care so much?

I let out a sigh and began the long walk back to my truck. No matter what I tried to focus on, the thoughts about how much I had fucked up in my life and how I’ll never be able to fix any of it kept coming back. My throat felt like it was slowly closing and I couldn’t breathe. Gasping for air, I stumbled into the nearest tree and braced myself against it, trying to regain the oxygen in my lungs. _‘I need to calm down,’_ I told myself. 

I placed my back against the tree and slid down until the hard ground was beneath me. I closed my eyes and moved my head so that my forehead was leaning against one of my knees, focusing on getting control of my breathing. After a few minutes, I felt my heart steady slowly and my lungs being to fill with air as I set there. 

I am a failure. I didn’t want to believe it at the time, but the dread doctors were right; I’m a failure, my condition terminal. I always thought that I was their only success, the only one strong enough to survive but that’s not the case. I was bred for power, created to destroy, genetically made to be a murderer and yet here I am, sitting in the woods not fighting for power or a pack but fighting off a panic attack. I’m pathetic. I don’t deserve any of those things. I hissed in pain as the thoughts continued. I’m a terrible person, _“not even human”_ Scott had said and he’s not wrong. I’m not human, I’m not really a supernatural creature; I’m nothing. 

I felt my eyes burning and knew that the tears had started. _When did I get so emotional?_ But I already knew the answer; it was when Liam brought me out of Hell. _Liam. Liam. Liam._ They will never trust me, he will never trust me, and there is no place left for me in this world. Maybe I should just hop in my truck and drive it off the edge of the preserve, end it all. Yeah, that’d be good, the right thing to do. I’d get to live out eternity in limbo again with Tara and get what I deserve. I hadn’t noticed there was pain running through my leg until I opened my eyes and noticed that at some point, my claws had grew and I had shoved them into my thigh. I didn’t pull them out, thought, just watched as the blood poured from the punctures and appreciated the dull pain that coursed through my limb. 

The sound of rustling leaves made me withdraw the claws from my leg and spring to my feet, ready for a fight. I felt my eyes begin to glow and fangs rip out of my gums as a low growl formed in my chest. The scent that was heading my way was familiar but I couldn’t place it. One thing was for sure though, it was a werewolf. 

I felt a sense of calm rush over me as the werewolf stepped into the clearing between us; Peter Hale. My fangs and claws retracted, my eyes returned to normal and I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding; relieved that I didn’t need to fight today. 

“Theo?” Peter questioned, blues eye fading back to normal as he came through the clearing. “I thought you might have been a hostile omega passing through. You’re still here?” He raised his eyebrows at me, obviously confused about my presence in Beacon Hills. I couldn’t blame him, I was confused myself. The last we spoke, I was leaving Beacon Hills, leaving the pack, leaving -.

My thoughts were cut off when a third scent entered the area. From the scent, I could tell that the unknown person was female, human and was approaching behind Peter.  _‘It could be a hunter,’_  I thought. I felt my claws and fangs grow back and my eyes blaze a golden yellow as I stepped forward toward the new threat, ready to fight with Peter to eliminate them if it came to that. Before I could get too far, Peter’s own eyes shown a bright blue and he moved in between me and the female that was approaching, letting out a warning growl. 

“Watch it,” he said through gritted teeth, taking a defensive stance. I let my fangs and claws retract and put my hands up in surrender as my eyes returned to normal. I focused my eyes on the female as she stopped in the clearing next to Peter. She was a beautiful woman, tall and brunette, and she flashed me a smile as she hooked her arm around Peter’s. His eyes returned to their normal gray shade as he looked to the woman and gave her a smile. “Theo, this is Olivia, my girlfriend. Olivia, this is Theo, the chimera that helped my daughter and I fight the ghost riders.” Honestly, I was a little surprised. Peter Hale has a girlfriend? Are we talking about the same Peter Hale here? I guess everyone is capable of change. If a guy like Peter Hale had changed for the better, then maybe I had too or will be able to. Seeing Peter arm in arm with the female, _Olivia,_ gave me hope. 

Olivia turned her head toward me, smiled and spoke up, “it’s nice to meet you Theo.” She stepped forward and extended her hand. I slowly stepped forward and accepted her hand, giving her a small smile in return. 

“Nice to meet you too, Olivia,” I said before extracting my hand and stepping back. “Well it was good to see you guys, but I should be going.” I turned to walk away but was stopped by Peter calling out to me. 

“You didn’t answer my question,” he yelled, folding his arms over his chest. 

I turned around to see a smirk on his face and an eyebrow raised. “What question?” I asked, trying my best to look confused, I really didn’t want to answer but I knew Peter wouldn’t let me go until he was satisfied. 

“Why are you back?” He asked dryly. Man, he sure gets right to the point. I had to admit, I liked that about him. Straight to the point, no nonsense. 

I sighed and leaned against the tree beside me, “honestly? I don’t know. I never went far, just stayed outside the city limits, moving every couple days to a new town. A police officer found me sleeping in my truck this morning and told me to move. I kept driving and wound up here, in the preserve. I don’t plan to stay.” I looked down at my feet, feeling like I was being suffocated by my words. 

There was an uncomfortable silence for a while, Peter and Olivia sharing a few looks with each other before she spoke up, “you’re sleeping in your car?” She let go of Peter’s hand and stepped forward. 

“Yeah?” I don’t understand why she was acting as if she cares, she doesn’t know me. Peter barely knows me. She crept closer and reached for my hands; I had to resist the urge to pull away at her touch so I wouldn’t offend her. 

“Sweetie, that’s no way to live,” she muttered as she caressed my hands. “You’ll come and stay with us. Just until you can find a place of your own.” 

What? Why the hell would this woman who just met me want to take me into her home? Why was Peter not objecting? I opened my mouth to object but was cut off by Peter, “you heard my lady, Theo. Sleeping in your truck is no way to live, you’ll stay with us. We won’t take no for an answer.” He stepped forward until he was standing next to Olivia and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, smiling down at her. He turned his head to me and gave me the same smile, “well?” 

I didn’t know what to say; no one has ever shown me this much kindness before. Well, no one except the angry little beta, Liam. “I really don’t know what to say,” I sighed. I shook my head and smiled, “thank you.” I looked Olivia in the eyes; her eyes were shimmering with genuine concern and devotion to helping. I definitely didn’t deserve this. I turned and looked at Peter, “both of you. I won’t burden you for long, I’ll get a job and find a small apartment or something.” I hate accepting their help, mostly because I don’t deserve it, but I’ve also always done everything for myself, figured it out on my own and I’m not used to others stepping in to help. 

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Olivia smiled, a sort of warm motherly smile. “We’ll help you get back on your fe—“ her words were cut off by a high pitched scream and she doubled over in pain, falling to the ground and clutched her stomach. 

“Olivia!” Peter exclaimed, grabbing her arms to help stabilize her body, “what’s wrong?” 

“I d-don’t know,” she cried out, still clutching her stomach. “Ahhh!” 

“We need to get her to Melissa!” Peter said, voice shaking in terror. “Now!” 

I leaned down next to them and helped Peter hoist Olivia back up to her feet, “my truck is just down the path over there. I’ll drive.” Peter nodded and I helped him carry her through the clearing toward my truck, careful to not injure her any more than she already was.  _‘This was karma,’_  I thought. Coming to bite me in the ass once again. Whenever someone tries to help me, they end up getting hurt. This, this is why I don’t deserve kindness. I don’t deserve help. I really should just end it all, so I could never hurt anyone ever again; I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt another person now. Once I get confirmation that Olivia is okay, I’m going to get far away from Beacon Hills so I can never hurt her again. Or Peter. Or the pack. Or Liam. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I love you guys. As always, please let me know if you notice any errors. <3


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's going on with Olivia? Will Theo stick around and stay with Peter and Olivia?

Peter’s POV  
I climbed into the backset of Theo’s truck with Olivia in my arms as Theo put the truck in gear and sped out of the preserve. Olivia was laying her head in my lap, trying hard to not show how much pain she was in. Her eyes were closed tight, a look of discomfort clear on her face and her arms were still cradling her stomach. I don’t want to worry her but I am freaking out internally right now. She’s human, she doesn’t heal like me! What if she’s been poisoned? What if an organ burst? What if we don’t make it to the hospital in time? 

I pushed those thoughts out of my head and reached my hand up to wipe the sweat from her forehead. I pushed my fingers through her hair, trying my best to comfort her. Though, admittedly, I’ve never comforted anyone in my life and this was all new territory to me. But looking at her right now, pain showing on her face and hands clinging to where the pain resonated in her body, I couldn’t help but realize just how strong she is. She’s one of the strongest humans I’ve ever met, even stronger than some werewolves I’ve met. I scoffed a little; maybe she wasn’t _that_ strong but god damn this woman was amazing. Sitting in the backseat of Theo’s truck, holding Olivia, it all just felt so right. Looking at her, I knew that there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her, for _us._ I gasped at the realization of what that all meant, air leaving my body momentarily. 

I love her. It’s something that I’ve never truly felt for anyone before, not even my own daughter, but I am definitely madly in love with this woman. So I can’t lose her yet, I’m not ready. I get to be selfish this time, this one damn time. She can’t die. 

I hissed when I felt a sharp pain run through my hand. I turned my head to my left hand that was still in Olivia’s long brown hair and noticed what was causing my pain. The veins in my hand had turned black and were snaking their way up my arm; I was _taking her pain._

I gaped at the sight in front of me because this is something that I’ve never done before, never been able to. But it was happening, right in front of me. The discomfort on her face slowly started to vanish and her expression returned to normal before she opened her eyes. 

“Hey, you,” I smiled at her as I resumed running my fingers through her hair. “How’re you feeling?” 

“Hey,” she replied hoarsely but with a smile. “Better. I can barely feel the pain anymore.” She moved one of her hands from her abdomen and latched onto my wrist, rubbing small circles with her thumb. “What did you do?” Her gaze turned to mine as she raised her eyebrow at me. 

I returned her smile as I contemplated what to tell her, dropping my eyes to her hand on my wrist. She knows what I am, she knows about most of my abilities, but she doesn’t know that we are able to take pain. I never thought to mention it before because I never thought that I would be able to do it, so it didn’t seem relevant to bring up. But that has changed now, _she_ changed that for me. I pulled my eyes back up to meet hers, which never left mine, and told the truth, “I took your pain.” Such a simple, yet foreign concept to me. 

I heard both Olivia and Theo let out a small gasp, the latter I had completely forgotten was driving us to the hospital and surely witnessed and heard everything that was happening between us. I chuckled and rolled my eyes; now we’re even. He just witnessed an intimate moment between Olivia and I and I witnessed an intimate moment between him and Liam, though Liam was not aware of the moment he and Theo shared. Theo will deny it if I or anyone brings it up, but it’s clear that the little ball of fists got through to him somehow, burrowed his way in and made him care. I hate to admit it but it’s cute. 

I was pulled from my thoughts when Olivia moved her hand to my cheek and moved my face so we were looking into each other’s eyes, “I didn’t know you could do that.” There was a hint of surprise in her voice that was accompanied by gratitude. I smiled at her, ready to reply but was cut off by the sound of Theo barking out a laugh – 

“Yeah, I didn’t either,” he said through his laugh. “I mean, I know werewolves can take pain but I didn’t know _you_ could.” The little shit, smirking as if he had just made the best joke and staring into the rear view mirror watching us. 

I glared at him and growled, “Shouldn’t you be watching the road? Or are you trying to kill us before we even get to the hospital?” That seemed to get his attention as his smirk was wiped off his face and his gaze returned to the road, hands tightening on the steering wheel. “And tell me Theo, when was the last time you were able to take pain?” I smiled a knowing smile at him and he growled. 

“Shut it, Hale,” he replied through gritted teeth. 

I couldn’t help but laugh at him, “You started this game, Raeken.” 

Before either of us could reply, Olivia cried out in pain again. All joking was over now; it’s time to get serious again. I placed my hand on her cheek and began taking her more of her pain. “Step on it, Theo!” I yelled. 

Theo didn’t reply verbally, just nodded and slammed his foot down farther on the gas. I felt the truck’s acceleration pickup and Theo started weaving in and out of the traffic that was on the road leading to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. 

When we arrived at BHMH, Theo pulled up right to the entrance and threw the gear in park. He hopped out of the truck and came to the backseat to help me get Olivia out and carry her inside. We both had one of Olivia’s arms draped over our shoulders as we stepped through the entrance and I spotted Melissa immediately. 

“Melissa!” I yelled out to her. She turned around; eyes searching for the source of her name being called and her eyes met mine. I waved her over with my free hand, expression full of worry. She took in the scene in front of her and sprinted right over to us, grabbing a wheel chair in the process. Theo and I helped Olivia into the chair while Melissa stabilized it against her body so it would roll out from under us. 

“Peter,” Melissa started as she began wheeling Olivia down the hallway. “What happened? And what is _he_ doing here?” Her last comment was obviously directed at Theo and dripped with hostility. 

I heard Theo beside me scoff and begin to speak, “I’ll just le-“

But I cut him off before he could finish, “Can you two fight later?” I let out a low growl at them both. I really was not in the mood to listen to them fight right now, not when Olivia needed immediate help. “She is the one who should be getting your attention right now, not Theo.” 

Melissa’s face softened and she shook her head, “You’re right. We can deal with out issues later,” she gave a pointed look at Theo, who just nodded. “Peter, please tell me what happened to her.” 

I sighed and gave her a nod, “We went for a run in the preserve this afternoon, just to blow off some energy. And to answer your earlier question a little, Theo is here with us right now because we ran into him in the preserve. I introduced the two and then should fell to the ground, screaming in the pain, clutching her stomach,” I purposely left out the part where we invited Theo to stay with us for a while; Melissa didn’t need to know that yet. “He helped me get her here, he drove us.” 

Melissa gave a look to Theo before turning and kneeling next to Olivia, “Olivia, sweetie, can you hear me?” She nodded and Melissa continued, “Is your stomach still bothering you?” Another nod. “Okay, we’ll need to get you examined. Peter, Theo, you both can go to the waiting room. I’ll come get you when we know something.” She ushered us out of the room and pointed us down the hall to the waiting room. 

I took a seat when we reached the waiting room and put my head into my hands, I just wanted Olivia to be okay and it killed me inside knowing that there wasn’t much I could do. I could smell apprehension and terror next to me and raised my head to see Theo standing and looking around. “Sit down,” I said low. He continued looking around as if he was expecting to see someone he didn’t want to any minute. “What’s wrong with you?” I asked, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the seat next to me. “And before you say nothing, please remember that I’m a werewolf and can smell your fear.” 

Theo let out a sigh and closed his eyes, “just remembering my recurring nightmares. It really is nothing.” 

I could tell that he really didn’t want to talk about it but I had no patience for politeness, “ _Please,_ Theo, I need to think about something else, _anything_ else. Tell me about your nightmares.” 

He shook his head again and muttered “I can’t,” with a shaky voice. Whatever happened in this kid’s nightmares, it’s rattled him to his core. I decided not to push on this subject and rather bring up a different one, “Okay, so what do you plan to do first now that you’re back in Beacon Hills?” I looked over and smirked at him.

He let out a small laugh before speaking up, “Besides planning on leaving again? I don’t know. Maybe look for a job.” He lowered his head again, deep in thought about what I had just asked him. 

“I think you should go back to school; go make some friends and graduate,” I said. I looked back at him to see him laughing. I glared at him a little and told him, “I’m serious. Go back to Beacon Hills High and finish up your senior year and be a normal kid for once.” 

He look at me in disbelief before a smirk grew on his face, “Wow, Peter. I didn’t know you such a caring person.” I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head but he continued, “No, really. Fatherhood has changed you. It’s really sweet.” The sarcasm was dripping from his words. 

I was getting ready to reply but saw Melissa walking towards us and I jumped from my seat instead. I walked straight to her and asked, “What happened, Melissa? Is she okay?” Her expression was hard and unreadable for a moment before it softened and she took my hand. “Melissa, I swear to whatever God you believe in, if you tell me she’s dying I will burn this place to the gr-“

She cut me off before I could finish, putting her hand over my mouth. “Peter! You’re in a hospital; you can’t say things like that!” She pulled me off to the side of the hallway and continued as Theo appeared next to us, “It’s nothing too bad. I did have to call Deaton but he said she should be just fine.” 

Deaton? Why the hell would she need to consult a vet? “What does Deaton have to do with any of this? Why would you need to talk to h-” I let my words trail off as the realization hit me, Melissa just squeezed my hand and gave me a wide smile. 

“Does someone want to explain what’s happening here?” came Theo’s voice. 

I didn’t turn to him to reply, but I felt a surge of happiness flow through my body and a smile grow on my face as I said, “She’s pregnant.” 

Melissa squeezed my hand again, muttering a “mhmm.” 

Theo smiled and clapped his hand on my shoulder, congratulating me. 

I can’t describe the pure happiness I am feeling in this moment. I didn’t get the chance to raise Malia and I will always regret that. But with this child, I have the chance to do everything right from the start. I get to be an actual father and raise my own child, with its mother. We can be an actual normal family. Nevermind the whole ‘I’m-a-werewolf-and-so-is-my-child’ thing, it didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was that the woman I love and I were going to be able to bring a child into this world and raise them into a great person and powerful werewolf. 

After the initial glee had passed, Melissa led me to Olivia’s room telling Theo to remain in the waiting room. When I walked into her room, I saw her holding her belly with a large smile present on her face. I took in the sight for a moment, the mother of my child cradling her unborn baby in her belly, smiling from ear to ear. It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. My own smile grew larger as I stepped forward. Olivia looked up when she heard me stepping in and waved me over to her. “I have to tell you, when I woke up this morning, I did not expect to find out that I was pregnant,” she said, smile still as wide as ever. “But I am so happy.” 

“Me too,” I said sitting down next to her. “I can’t believe I get a second chance to do this right. I am going to be the best father that has ever existed to this baby.” I reached my hand out to join hers. “Did Melissa say how far along you are?” 

I didn’t look up to her and she didn’t look at me, we just kept staring where our hands were joined, covering our unborn baby in its womb. “About 12 weeks,” she said. I was about to ask how we didn’t know sooner but she must have known what I was thinking because he continued, “it’s not completely impossible for pregnancy to go unnoticed in the early weeks. And before you ask, Melissa said that the pain I felt was caused by the baby growing. Something about a supernatural baby in a human can cause pain when it begins to grow.” I looked up at her, realizing that it partly my fault that she had gone through pain earlier. 

“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that pain because of me.” 

The smile on her face faded as she spoke, “Hey. This isn’t just your fault. It takes two to tango, mister.” I couldn’t hold back a laugh at how she decided to phrase that sentence. “I don’t care about that. It means that the baby is growing and is healthy. And that’s all I care about. I will go through this pain every week if it means that our baby will be healthy and safe.” 

I couldn’t believe how completely selfless and caring she was. She was willing to go through excruciating pain over and over again just to make sure her, _our,_ baby was healthy. She is truly amazing and I am the luckiest ex-evil, ex-Alpha, now Omega Werewolf that ever lived. In just a short period of time, we will both be able to hold our baby in our arms and be a family. 

“I love you,” I muttered, still looking in her eyes. 

“D-Did you j-just, did you just say you love me?” He eyes widened and her hand gripped mine hard. 

I nodded and squeezed her hand back, “Yeah, I did.” 

She smiled, eyes beginning to water, “I just needed to make sure I heard you right, you know i don’t have super werewolf hearing like you.” I let out a chuckle and went to reply but she cut me off, “I love you too.” 

I am fully aware of how sappy I am being in this exact moment, but I was on cloud nine. The woman I am in love with loved me back and we had a baby on the way. I leaned up, cupped her face with my hands and kissed her passionately. Our tongues danced around for a while until we broke apart to catch our breaths. “What about Theo?” she asked when she could breathe again. 

“What about Theo?” I parroted back to her. Oh. Theo. The kid we just invited to live with us until he got back on his feet. The kid we would have to probably kick out before he’s even moved in because we won’t have space once the baby was born. That Theo. “We’ll figure something out.”

Her expression turned sad, “We won’t have enough room for him and the baby.” I could smell the guilt rolling off of her as she spoke, trying to internally analyze how to make everything work. This woman is the greatest woman I have ever met. So selfless. So caring of strangers. So loving. 

I took her hand with one or mine and rubbed her shoulder with the other. “We can still take him in, Liv. We’ll just have to tell him that once the baby comes we won’t have enough room, unfortunately. I know you don’t want to do that to him, and I don’t either, but we won’t have another choice. Plus, that’s 6 months away, I’m sure he will have something figured out before then. He really isn’t one to accept help for long periods of time.” I gave her a reassuring smile and stood up. “You ready to go home?”

**

I stood at the kitchen counter, smiling as I made two cups of coffee and a glass of orange juice. Life has just been so good the past couple months. It’s been 2 months since we found out that Olivia was pregnant and 2 months since Theo had moved in with us. Olivia was now 5 months along and we found out that we were going to have a baby boy in just 4 months, just in time for Christmas. To say we were excited would be an understatement; even Theo was excited about the baby on the way, even though he knew his room would be given to the baby once he arrived. 

Speaking of Theo, using my address, he was able to land a job as a barista at the local coffee shop down the road and managed to start saving some money. The kid has grown so much over the past 2 months and I have to say that I’m really proud of him. _Proud?_ Man, fatherhood really has changed me. Anyway, Theo is one of the strongest kids I’ve ever met; he’s been put through so much in his short life and he’s managed to overcome each and every thing that’s been put in his way. All except for the nightmares that inhabit his dreams every night, those have not gone away. I poor kid wakes up screaming every night, shaking and sweating, terrified of falling back asleep again. Every time I or Liv try to get him to open up about his dreams, he shuts off and pushes us away, not ready to live through the nightmares while he was awake. 

Theo and I have grown exponentially close over the past 2 months and we actually consider each other friends now, ready to do anything for the other if we need to. He helps me in the kitchen to make Liv breakfast or dinner, he helps me put together the babies’ furniture in his current room even though it cuts down on his space and he helps by taking Liv to her doctor’s appointments when I have to work. Yeah, I guess I would say that Theo has become family to us. I mean, he’s the best friend I’ve ever had. 

I was dragged back to reality by Theo’s teasing, “If my coffee is cold because you stood at the counter smiling like an idiot for 20 minutes, I’m going to kill you, asshole.” I glanced up from the counter and gave him the finger, earning a smirk from the younger boy as he turned his attention back to the book he was reading and a laugh from Olivia who was reading a baby book on the couch next to him. Theo had decided, after a lot of convincing from Olivia, to return to Beacon Hills High School and finish his senior year. He was supposed to start next week and needed to catch up on his reading list before classes start. 

I grabbed the cups and headed toward the living room, dropping them on the table as I sat down next to my love. “Whatcha reading today?” I asked Theo, craning my neck to read the title. 

Theo glanced up from his book and smiled, “The Poisonwood Bible.” I raised my cup of coffee to my lips and muttered an ‘Ah’ before taking a sip. It must have been apparent that I had never heard of the novel because Theo shook his head and continued, “It’s this story about a family that moves to the Congo to live as missionaries. The story is broken out and told from the different point of views of the children. It’s actually really interesting.” He turned his attention back to his book as he finished his explanation, light in his eyes showing his interest in what he was reading. 

I returned my mug to the table and looked over to Olivia, “and how is your reading coming along?” She had been curled up on the couch all day reading baby book after baby book. The one she was currently reading was a book on baby names. “Find any names you like?” I draped my arm over her shoulder and kissed her cheek. 

She dropped the book into her lap and looked up to me with a smile, “I don’t know. It’s hard to pick just one.” She chuckled softly and continued, “I really like the name Matthew. And Phillip. OH! Thomas.” Her smile grew wider as she rubbed my arm, “What do you think?” 

“I think,” I began, leaning down to press a kiss to her ear, “that we still have some time to figure it out the perfect name.” She elbowed me in the ribs and smiled at me, shaking her head. I laughed as I pulled away, feigning hurt. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back toward her, catching my lips with hers and we engaged in a loving kiss before pulling away and calling me a ‘jackass’ under her breath. “I heard that, baby cakes.”

“You guys are so gross,” Theo said, not looking up from his book. 

“Aww, Theo. Don’t be like that. You’ll be just like us one day,” I uttered softly as I laid my head against his shoulder. 

He and Liv laughed as he pushed me away from him. I’ve never had anything like this; something so domestic and real and promising. For once in my life, everything was working out the way I wanted it to. I had a new best friend, Malia had been making more of an effort to include me in her life lately, a woman I loved so much loved me back and we had a baby on the way. This is the first time I’ve ever said this but in this moment, everything was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading <3 As always, let me know if you notice an errors and I will fix them. Also, follow me on Instagram :) 
> 
> I love all you beautiful people!


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to go back to Beacon Hills High! How will Liam react when he finds out Theo is back?

Mason’s POV

“I can’t handle this,” Liam whines, lying across the bench in the boy’s locker room. 

“Yes, you can,” I said to him, reaching down and gripping his arm to pull him up. Corey grips his other arm and together we lifted him into a seated position. “And you’ve handled so much more than this. You’re practically the Alpha now.” I gave him an encouraging smile, hoping he would snap out of this funk. 

He shakes his head slowly and looks up at me, “I’m nothing without her.” Hayden. Hayden had left Beacon Hills just a few weeks ago and I have been working day and night to the pieces that are Liam back together again. 

While I was trying to talk some sense into Liam, my lovely boyfriend was trying to help him into his lacrosse gear. Since, you know, they were both supposed to be on the field for practice 15 minutes ago. And Liam was the captain! The captain can’t skip practice! “Liam, can you help me with this, please?” Corey pleaded as he tried to help Liam into his should guards. 

Liam dropped his arms, smacking his thighs and let out another whine, “Hayden left me.” 

I cut him off before he could continue, lowering myself so we were eye level, “She moved. To protect her sister. And it’s not like she dumped you or anything! So, come on Liam, snap out of this and get to practice!” I gave him a smile, trying to urge him to get on with his life; he couldn’t keep this up every day. 

On the other side of Liam, Corey was still struggling with getting Liam into his gear, “Why is your arm so heavy?” Corey let out a huff of air has Liam’s arm dropped back down to his side before reaching back down to raise it again, muttering “damn it, Liam.” 

The sound of my phone beeping stopped me from commenting further on Liam’s stubbornness. I pulled my phone from my pocket and unlocked the screen, seeing a message from Scott. I read the message and raised my head to look at Liam, “Okay, Scott says Coach is losing it.”

Before I could try to reason him up and onto the field, Liam threw his body back down against the bench and said, “Scott’s leaving too.” He closed his eyes and brought his hands up to cover his face. 

I leaned back down next to him and reminded him that he wasn’t actually leaving, “Going to college is not leaving, okay? It’s called growing up, Liam.” Something he really needs to learn; and fast. “And we’re all going to be going to different colleges eventually.” I was hoping that the last bit of my speech would make him come to his sense and realize he’s being silly but my cute and moronic boyfriend just had to speak up again.

“I thought we were both applying to UCLA –“

Before Corey could finish, Liam cut him off, sitting straight up and glared between the two of us, “Wait, you guys are going to the same college?”

I looked up from Liam’s face and shot Corey a glare. Idiot. He responded with an apologetic look but I turned back to Liam and continued, “That is so not the point. What is the point, though, is that we are about to be seniors and have the best year of our lives. Plus, you’re still the captain of the lacrosse team!” Corey and I moved to pull him to his feet, but our strength was no match for his and we both crashed to the floor, both of us grunting in pain as my phone beeped again. 

I rubbed my head, which so graciously cushioned my fall, and pulled my phone out to check the new message. Scott again. As I read the message, I sat up and turned to Liam. “Oh god.” Liam turned to me with a confused look on his face and I read on, “Coach is making Diaz captain.” 

I saw Liam’s eyes flash gold for a moment before he jumped up to his feet, grabbing Corey by the arm and pulled him toward the door, dragging him out of the locker room, “Come on, Corey! We have to get to practice!” I followed behind the two of them, laughing as Corey rolled his eyes. 

“Sure, Liam,” he said sarcastically, “Now you’re worried about your status on the team. Not that we tried to tell you that or anything 20 minutes ago.” God, I love that boy. 

I smiled as I took my seat in the bleachers, watching as Liam blocked a shot by flipping over another player and catching the ball with his stick. In the distance I could hear Scott and Coach talking but couldn’t make out what they were saying until they walked closer. I don’t have super werewolf hearing, you know. Sometimes being a human sucks. “Coach, that’s Liam!” Scott exclaimed as they both walked past me, following Liam’s movements down the field. 

Practice went on for another half an hour as I sat in the bleachers with Sydney, just watching my best friend and boyfriend play. Every time Liam would make a goal or Corey would successfully defend the goal, admittedly this didn’t happen as often as Liam scored, Sydney and I jumped up and down with excitement and cheered on our friends. “Corey’s getting really good,” Sydney said as she turned to me. 

I didn’t look back, too busy being mesmerized by the show my boyfriend was putting on, but I leaned over to her and replied, “Yeah, I know. He’s been practicing a lot lately; he’s been working really hard to get better. He felt like a let down to the team last season and he really doesn’t want to feel that way again. I’ve even been trying to help him, but I’m no Scott or Liam when it comes to lacrosse.” Sydney just hummed in response and continued to watch the action on the field. 

All the players on the field stopped moving suddenly when a wolf made its way onto the field from the woods. Sydney and I jumped up from our seats and I ran down to the field to get a better look at the wolf that was now half surrounded by the Beacon Hills Cyclones. 

I made my way over to Corey, who had been standing on the left side of the wolf, and gripped his hand when the wolf began to growl and snarl. Some of the players took in the threat and stepped back while others stayed in place. Scott walked into the center of the circle and put his hands up, “Get back,” he ordered, making a pushing motion with his hands. The others did as they were told and stepped back as Scott continued forward. The wolf let out another growl and Scott flashed his red, Alpha eyes in response, making the wolf whimper and lower to the ground. 

The wolf stood back up completely and turned around, slowly walking back into the woods from which it came. Scott and Liam shared and look before stepping forward and following after it. I turned to Corey and whispered, “What do you think that was about?” 

He squeezed my hand tighter and turned back to me, offering a smile he said, “I don’t know. But I’m sure they’ll tell us later.” I didn’t press further because he was right. Scott and Liam could handle this and they’ll fill us in later on what they find. Coach dismissed practice and I walked with Corey, hands still glued together, back to the locker room so he could change and we could go home. 

**

Waking up the next morning, I could barely contain my excitement. It was the first day of school. The first day of senior year. The first day of the ending of my high school career. I threw my blanket off my body, jumped out of bed and barreled down the stairs; I skipped a step on my way down and almost face planted on the hard wood floor by the kitchen. Regaining my composure, I walked into the kitchen and found a note from my mother on the counter: 

Mason,  
Your dad and I had to go into work early. Sorry there isn’t breakfast ready. Have a good first day of school, sweetie!   
Love you,  
Mom  
P.S. Since your Dad and I went to work together, you can use the car to drive to school

I let the note drop to the counter and grinned, “YES!” This day was getting better and better. First day of senior year, car privileges, what’s next? Hopefully I would get my acceptance letter into UCLA today; that would just make this day the greatest. 

A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. ‘Who could that be?’ I thought as I walked toward the front door. As I opened the door and took in who was standing there, I felt a smile grow across my face, “What are you doing here?” Standing on my front porch, holding a box of a half dozen donuts and a drink carrier with three coffees, was my incredibly hot boyfriend. 

He smiled at me and raised the refreshments he brought with him, “I thought you might be hungry.” He stepped over the threshold of my home, walking straight to the kitchen and placed the coffee and donuts on the counter. He turned around to me and grinned a little, “Plus we both know that Liam is still sleeping and he won’t wake up until he’s almost late and he won’t have time to eat anything.” 

I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his waist. He returned my hug, wrapping his arms around my neck and laid his head in the crook of my neck. I really can’t handle how cute this boy is sometimes. I don’t know what I did to deserve him. 

“It’s me that doesn’t deserve you,” he said, pulling away from my neck, smile still on his face. I hadn’t known I said that out loud until he responded. 

I brought my hands and cupped his face as I pulled him closer to mine. When we were close enough, I could feel his breath tickle my lips and I pressed them against his, moving my hands back to his waist to pull his body to mine. We stayed like that for what seemed like hours, lips locked together, tongues swirling in each other’s mouths and hands roaming over our bodies. When we pulled apart to let our lungs fill back up with air, I looked at him, lips tugged up in a smile and panted out a, “You’re the best.” 

“I’d like to beg to differ,” he started as he closed his eyes. “But if I did, we would be in full on debate all day and we’ll miss school. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to spend all day explaining to you how amazing you are but we should really get to school.” He pulled me back in for another hug and I melted into his touch. He pulled us apart and pecked my lips before looking me up and down. “I really like the look you have going on right now, but you might want to change and put something appropriate for school on.” 

I looked away from his grinning face and looked at what I was wearing: just an old t-shirt and a pair of boxers. I chuckled softly and looked back up to his face, “You’re an idiot. I’ll go change.” I pulled away from him and started up to my room to put some clothes on. 

“But I’m your idiot,” he yelled up after me, making me snort out a laugh. 

After I was done changing, I rejoined him in the kitchen and grabbed the car keys from the hook they rested on, “Let’s go. I’ll drive.” I swung the keys in his face and smiled. 

He returned the smile, shaking his head as he picked up the coffee and donuts, heading for the door. “You’re a dork.” 

I pulled the door closed and locked it as I repeated the same joke he used earlier, “Ahh, but I’m your dork.” I gave him one last kiss before we both got in the car and drove to Liam’s. 

**

After picking up Liam, the mood in the car changed. Liam was still in his ‘woe is me, I’m all alone’ depressed mood this morning and the donuts and coffee Corey had given him didn’t brighten him up one bit even though he scarfed down 2 donuts and his entire cup of coffee in 2 minutes. After he downed the last drip of his coffee, I looked in the rear-view mirror at him and raised my brow at him, “You sure you’re okay, man?” I brought my eyes back to the road when Liam scoffed at my intrusion. 

“Yeah, Mase,” he said while looking out the window. “I’m fine.” He clearly was not fine but I wasn’t going to push, at least not yet. 

The remainder of the car ride to school was done so in silence, not even a breath was audible between Liam, Corey or me. I’ve never been so uncomfortable around my best friend in my life. Something was clearly going on with him and it was more than Hayden and Scott leaving; I just couldn’t figure out what it was that had him so bummed out all the time. Before he became a werewolf, I’d always been able to read him and figure out what was going on with him. But these past couple years he’s been really sheltered and closed off when it comes to his feelings, not willing to let anyone in. Honestly, I have been feeling like a shitty best friend lately because he’s been so down while I’ve been on cloud nine with Corey. 

When we pulled in the parking lot of the high school, I heard Corey mutter a ‘thank god,’ that I knew if I heard, Liam did as well. I glanced back and saw Liam roll his eyes quickly, still looking out the window. I elbowed Corey in the side and shot him a look, telling him ‘seriously?!’ with my eyes. His expression turned soft and mouthed a ‘sorry’ before hanging his head and looked down at his hands. 

We all stepped out of the car as I put it in park and turned the engine off, backpacks draped over our shoulders as we walked to the entrance of the school. Glancing at the entrance, I saw something, someone that had me doing a double take. I rubbed my eyes and looked again but he wasn’t there. ‘You’re just seeing things,’ I told myself. 

Corey nudged me and I looked over to him, noticing that at some point I had stopped walking. “Are you okay?” He asked with concern, standing in front of me as Liam joined him at my side. 

I nodded and spoke up to ease his concern, “Yeah, I’m fine. I just thought I saw someone I didn’t expect to. False alarm.” There was no way he was here. I mean, he left Beacon Hills. Didn’t he? 

Corey furrowed his brows and tried to get me to continue my explanation by motioning with his hands as Liam spoke up, “Who?” 

I looked between the two of them; both had worry etched on their faces, wondering who I could see that would stop me dead in my tracks. “It doesn’t matter,” I said as the bell rang and we continued our path to the doors. Saved by the bell. “We need to get to class. Liam, you got biology with us later, right?” Liam just nodded and turned to go to his first class when we entered the building. 

Corey and I separated with a kiss, both of heading to our respective classes. As I entered my English IV class, I found one empty seat and took it. I placed my backpack off to the left of my seat and leaned down to pull my notebook out. As I leaned back up, I was startled to see who was sitting next to me. Clearly, I wasn’t seeing things earlier. Theo Raeken was back in Beacon Hills and has re-enrolled in Beacon Hills High School and was sitting next to me in my freaking English class. ‘So much for this being a good day,’ I thought. 

“Theo?!” I gaped at him. He turned his head, eyes widening when he saw my face. He clearly did not notice me when I sat down next to him; man, those chimera senses must be going bad. 

“Mason.” his face contorted from confusion to amused as he flashed me a smirk. 

“What the hell a-“ I started to ask but I was cut off by the teacher beginning class. 

“Alright, class! Welcome back to Beacon Hills High and welcome to your senior year,” she said, earning a small amount of cheers from the other students. I was too preoccupied staring at Theo to care about what she was saying or recognize that the she was addressing me until Theo kicked my foot and pointed forward. “Are you with us, Mr. Hewitt?” she asked with an amused grin and raised eyebrows. 

I shook the dumb look off my face and offered an apology, “Yes, ma’am. Sorry.” She nodded and went back to explaining the course work for the year and handing out the syllabus. I turned my head again to Theo, only to be met by his signature smirk again. This was going to be a really long semester. 

After class was over and the bell rang, all the students in the room stood and filed out of the classroom. Feeling my curiosity building, I weaved in and out of everyone in the hallways, looking for Theo. When I caught up to him, I grabbed him by his shoulder pulled him to the side. 

Before I could say anything, Theo was giving me a nasty look and asking, “What the hell do you want, Mason?” 

When I didn’t answer right away, he turned around and started walking away. I grabbed his shoulder again and pulled him back to me, yelling a “don’t walk away from me” at him. 

A smile grew on his face and he opened his mouth to speak, “Then talk, idiot.” God, I hate him so much; I could just punch his face right now. And I would, if I didn’t mind having a broken hand. “Seriously, Mason, can you say what you need to say? I need to get to class, can’t be late on my first day back. If you’re not going to say anything, then this will just have to wait ‘til later.” He let out a puff of air in annoyance as he stared at me, tapping his foot in anticipation. 

Anger grew inside me in response to his sassy attitude and I had to take a deep breath to calm down. “What the hell are you doing here?” I finally asked. 

Theo furrowed his brows and looked around the hallway and back to me, “Going to school? What are you doing here?” His classic smirk found its way back to his face, making it really hard for me not to punch it. 

“Don’t be an asshole,” I said through gritted teeth. “What are you doing in Beacon Hills? Didn’t you leave?” 

“Yes, I did,” he replied. “And now I’m back. I have to finish school, don’t I?” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked down the hall toward his next class. 

I stood there for a minute, unsure of what to say or do. Liam was obviously going to figure out sooner or later but should I tell Scott? Or just let Liam handle Theo? I know he’s still angry about Theo disappearing 3 months ago, so he’s really going to lose it when he finds out that Theo’s back and he didn’t tell anyone. This could get ugly, I need advice. 

Pulling out my phone, I shot a text to Corey, the only person I could ask what to do in this moment:   
>>Theo’s back.   
>>What do we do? 

**

By the end of the day, Corey and I still had not figured out how to tell Liam that Theo was back, roaming the halls of Beacon Hills High School. And by some miracle, Liam had not run into him at all. Maybe Theo was actively avoiding him? He probably assumes that I told Liam by now about our little confrontation and I would have, had I found the right way or time to do so. Theo is probably in a closet somewhere, hiding from Liam. 

The three of us met up after the final bell and began walking toward the exit of the school, toward the parking lot and my car. “How was your guys’ first day of senior year?” I asked, with maybe a little too much pep in my voice. 

Corey smiled and spoke first, “Great! This year is going to the best year by far.” He, too, had a little too much glee in his voice, but I didn’t mind. Liam on the other hand, did. 

There was a low grumble coming from his direction and I turned my attention to him, “Oh come on Liam, it couldn’t have been that bad.” I gave an optimistic look at him and he stared back at me like he was trying to kill me with mind control. 

“Yes, it could have, Mason. And it was,” he muttered. “The only class I didn’t suffer through today was History, mainly because it’s my favorite. I’m pretty sure I’m going to fail out of Biolo-“

Liam’s ranting ceased, as well as his walking, in an instant. I turned to ask him what was wrong, only to see his gaze fixed on something straight ahead of him, anger overflowing from his eyes. I followed his gaze to the parking lot and immediately found what was causing him to seethe with anger. There, in the parking lot, was none other than Theo Raeken, throwing his backpack into the backseat of his truck. 

Before I could turn back to Liam to stop what I knew he was about to do, Liam was heading straight for Theo, fists bound into balls of hatred. When Liam reached the truck, he grabbed Theo by his shoulders and turned him around forcefully. 

“What the hell, Dunbar?” Theo yelled as he shrugged Liam’s hands off of him. “What, you can’t say hello like a normal person? Always with the physicality.” Theo was smirking, obviously trying to get a reaction out of Liam, and it was working. 

Liam didn’t respond right away, just kept staring daggers at Theo. After a few minutes of staring, Theo started to speak again, “Well, this has been a great reunion with the puppy pack,” he trailed off as he looked around to me, Corey and back to Liam before continuing, “But I really need to get going. So, see you tomorrow?” Theo went to move away but Liam grabbed him again and shoved him back into the side of the truck. “Damn it, Liam, will you be careful with my one good possession? If you have something to say, then say it.” 

“You left,” Liam finally said. “You left and you didn’t say anything. I thought you were dead! Or worse,” Liam’s voice cut off and he looked down before he snapped his gaze back to Theo. “You’re my responsibility, that was the deal. And you just took off without saying anything.” For a moment, I thought Liam’s voice cracked a little but I might have imagined that; my brain has been pretty unreliable today after all. 

There was silence again for a few minutes, no one breathing or saying a word. Corey and I exchanged a few glances now and then, trying to figure out what to do and how to defuse the situation playing out in front of us.

When it was clear that no one was going to say anything, Theo closed his eyes, let out a sigh and looked back at Liam, “Look, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving. I’m sorry I just disappeared. I didn’t think you’d care, alright? I figured if I just left, you, all of you, wouldn’t have to worry about me anymore. You’d be free.” I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Theo actually sounded sincere. “I was wrong. Clearly you do care about me, little w-“

Theo’s teasing was cut off when Liam pulled his fist back and connected it with Theo’s face, sending the chimera flailing back into his truck and falling to the ground. “No, I don’t,” Liam growled as Theo groaned in pain, holding his now bleeding, most likely broken, nose. 

Liam turned around and started walking toward my car, hearing Theo yelling ‘What the fuck Dunbar?’ as he stood up again. Liam obviously heard Theo’s question but chose to ignore him and kept walking, the anger still radiating off his body. Corey and I ran to catch up to him and got into the car. Before I pulled out of the parking lot, I turned back to Liam in the backseat and asked, “Feel better?” 

Liam didn’t turn to meet my gaze; he just muttered a ‘no’ before leaning his head against the window and stared. 

“Sorry, buddy,” I said before cracking a smile and continuing, “On the bright side though, that was fucking gold.” I couldn’t exactly tell, but I swear Liam’s lip twitched up into a little smile at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you so much for reading! Comments and Kudos really make my day! Let me know if you see any errors and I will fix them. I love you all and Happy New Year! :) <3


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys... I'm back. I'm so sorry for my absence, I've been dealing with a bunch of stuff in my life. I'm hoping to get back on a regular posting and writing schedule going forward! I really hope I wasn't gone for too long and I hope you all are still interested in this story! Please let me know in the comments if I should continue this or not! I love you all :)

Theo’s POV

“What the fuck Dunbar?!” I growled as I fell to the ground, landing stiffly against the tire of my truck. My hand immediately left the ground after breaking my fall and cupped my now bleeding and broken nose. _‘That motherfucker.’_ I knew my teasing him about caring for me would make him angry but I didn’t think he would break my damn nose for it! Clearly, he’s still working on his anger; and failing, miserably. 

I pulled myself up off the ground, still clutching my nose and trying to stop the bleeding. When I looked around the parking lot, almost every student had stopped what they were doing to watch me. Kids were even getting out of their cars to get a good look at the action. There were no sounds, just everyone staring at me with their mouths open in quiet shock, blood still pouring out of my nose and hand. I noticed some teachers take notice and start making their way over to me to check if I was okay. In this exact moment, I began feeling like a caged animal at the zoo, being watched for other’s entertainment. I felt anger spike through my veins and balled my hands into fists and lashed out before I could stop myself, “What the fuck are you all looking at?! Haven’t you ever seen a guy with a bloody nose before? Stop staring at me and go the fuck home!” 

The anger was coursing through my bones now and I felt my claws starting to dig into the palms of my hands and my fangs poking at the inside of my lips, desperately trying to free themselves. I closed my eyes to hide their golden shade from everyone surrounding me, turned around and braced myself up against the bed of the truck. I took a few deep breaths to calm down but it wasn’t working, my anger was only growing. Fuck Liam. Fuck Mason. Fuck everyone in this school. Fuck Beacon Hills. Fuck my anger. Before i registered what was happening, my fist collided with the side of my truck. Maybe a little too forcefully as I left a dent that I didn’t need to open my eyes to know it was there. _God dammit; this is one of my only good things_. I’ve had my anger under control for half of my life and then Liam comes along and in an instant, all of my control goes out the window. The little angry beta is rubbing off on me in all the wrong ways. 

After a few moments, I felt my fangs and claws retract and my anger subside. I opened my eyes and took in the dent in the body of my truck. That’s probably going to cost me my entire paycheck to fix. I moved my hands to my nose and re-set it with a barely audible ‘pop’ so the healing could begin. I let out a deep sigh and turned around to see most of the students had listened to my outburst and cleared out of the parking lot. The teachers, on the other hand, were still standing around staring. Looks of confusion and worry were painted on their faces as they watched me move to the driver side of the truck and open the door. Before hopping in, I threw up my hand in a little wave to let them know I was fine. I closed the door and put the key in the ignition, roaring the engine to life. I put the truck in gear and took off out of the parking lot to go home, _Peter’s home_. 

The drive back to Peter’s apartment was short and quiet. Mainly because I was lost in my thoughts the whole time and was absentmindedly driving, not thinking about the turns I was making or direction was heading but my subconscious got me there on its own. The scene in the parking lot kept replaying in my head while driving. Being yanked around by Liam to face him, anger in his expression as he scolded me for leaving and not telling him that I was alive. I returned to my normal sarcastic asshole self when I teased him about caring about me but it wasn’t a joke. From the way Liam was yelling at me and the tone in his voice, it really did sound like Liam had cared about what happened to me. I was proved wrong when he punched me in the face, breaking my nose, and walking away seething with anger. Clearly what he was really worried about was if I had hurt, _killed,_ anyone while I was gone. I didn’t blame him, though. I would be worried about me too. I was a killer, a psychopath; it’s all I knew for most of my life. He should’ve been worried about me becoming those things again. But I couldn’t help the part of me that had hoped he knew I wasn’t those things anymore and that I really had changed; _‘because of him,’_ I reminded myself. 

I felt the anger rising in me again as I walked up the stairs to Peter’s apartment, opting not to take the elevator. If I never stepped into another elevator again, I would be perfectly fine. Fuck elevators. Fuck Liam. Fuck the pack. Fuck Liam. Fuck Beacon Hills. Fuck Liam. I slammed the front door closed after I pushed my way in, heading straight for my, the babies, room. I ignored the confused looks and the greetings from Peter and Olivia, who were sitting on the couch cuddling and headed into my temporary room. 

I closed the door to the bedroom and slumped onto the bed, rubbing my eyes with my hands. Why is this affecting me so much? I came back to Beacon Hills to finish school, to make something of myself, not to make friends with Liam. There was a knock at my door that pulled me from my thoughts and I pulled myself up on my elbows, muttering a low “hmm?” in response. 

The door opened slowly and Peter slipped his way into the room, closing the door behind him. He took in my appearance when he turned back around, noticing the dried blood under my nose. “So, I’m guessing the first day didn’t go so well?” He asked with an amused smile. I groaned and dropped my head back down to the mattress; I really wasn’t in the mood for this right now. Instead of leaving when I didn’t give him an answer, he moved across the room and took a seat on the bed next to me. I let my eyes drift over to him when I felt the bed dip as he sat down, meeting his gaze. He eyes softened a little and crossed his arms before asking, “Liam?” 

I rolled my eyes at the mention of his name. “How’d you guess?” I asked sarcastically. He didn’t need to answer, though, Peter knew about my weird “relationship” with Liam, if you could even call it a relationship. I mean, we hated each other, that much was certain. But at the same time, I didn’t hate him, almost the opposite actually. I was fond of beta, admired him. Well that was true until today. Fuck Liam. The hatred I felt for him previously has returned in all its blazing glory. 

Peter sighed and offered his explanation anyway, “I warned you something like this might happen when he found out that you were back.” I rolled my eyes again and just nodded. We had this conversation a couple days ago but I had been optimistic that Liam would behave better than he had. 

_“You know Liam’s going to be pissed, right?” Peter asked as he set the Chinese take-out on the table and took his seat across from Olivia._

_I shook my head, “No, he won’t. He’ll understand,” I said as I scooped out some food onto my plate. “If anyone will understand why I left for 3 months, it’ll be him. Don’t worry,” I said as I took a bite of my egg roll._

_Peter looked at me skeptically and shook his head, “If you say so. I still think you should call him and tell him though.” I opened my mouth to protest his comment to tell him I didn’t even have his number, “and before you try to make some excuse about not being able to, you have a phone now and I have his number.” Peter flashed me a smile as he pulled out his phone and waved it at me._

_My eyebrows raised at his admission and a look of confusion washed over my face, “Why the fuck-“_

_“Language, Theo!” Olivia yelled at me in a motherly tone, cutting me off with food falling out of her mouth._

_I turned my gaze to her, “Okay, first, sorry. Second, please don’t talk with your mouth full, it’s disgusting.” She turned her head and glared at me but continued to eat. I smiled at her and turned my attention back to Peter, “And third, why the heck do you have Liam’s phone number?”_

_Peter was silently laughing at the exchange between Olivia and I and had to recompose himself to answer me, “In case there are any emergencies in Beacon Hills when Scott and the others leave.” He shrugged and continued, “So seriously, call him and tell him.” He reached his phone out for me to take._

_I shook my head and pushed his hand away, “It’ll be fine. I think you’re really underestimating his grasp on his anger.” Liam has worked really hard to control his anger, I know he’ll keep it in check and let me explain and will ultimately understand._

_Peter scoffed at that and shook his head while picking up some chicken with his fork, “And I really think you’re overestimating his grasp on his anger. But, whatever you say,” he said while raising his hands defensively. “We’ll just wait and see how it plays out.”_

_“Boys,” Olivia sighed with a roll of her eyes. Peter and I barked out a laugh at her and both said “Get used to it” at the same time._

I rolled my eyes as the memory of our talk flooded back into my mind, “Yeah, yeah. You’re this all knowing, wise, _old_ werewolf.” I purposefully emphasized the word ‘old’ to tease my friend, who admittedly has been worrying about his growing age over the past few months. He’s been so worried about not being able to keep up with his little one when he arrives. The mention of his age earned me a swift punch to the ribs and I yelped at the pain and continued, “You told me so, blah blah blah. I got it.” I closed my eyes again and groaned. 

Peter placed his hand on my knee and patted once, twice, “Come on, bud, he’ll come around. Just give him some time and talk to him. Try to explain again in a less heated exchange,” I opened my eyes and gave him a smile. I hated to admit it but he was right. I needed to give Liam some time and then try to explain again. On the other hand though, Liam shouldn’t have just jumped the gun and attacked me like that. Peter stood up and pulled me up with him, dragging me out of the room so I didn’t mope around all day. “Just keep trying with him. He’ll understand eventually. If he cares about you as much as you care about him-“ I opened my mouth to argue his point but he continued speaking, tone getting louder, “You’re seriously going to try to argue with me over that? You and I both know that you care for him. Whether you want to admit it or not. So, if he cares about you as much as you care about him, he’ll come around and forgive you.” He patted me on the back with a smile and went to sit back next to Olivia on the couch. 

I sighed and slumped into the armchair across from them, “Jeez, Peter. When the fuck-“

“LANGUAGE,” Olivia growled. Sometimes I forget that she’s not a werewolf. 

My eyes widened and I ushered a ‘sorry’ at her before continuing my teasing with Peter, “What I was going to say was ‘Jeez, Peter. When did you become such a sap?’” I flashed him a smirk when he raised his middle finger in my direction. 

Peter’s hand was pushed down by Olivia, who was reading another baby book, and he muttered ‘asshole’ which only got him an elbow to the ribs. He huffed out a breath of air and returned his attention to me, “Anyway, besides the obvious, how was the rest of your first day? Did you stop in to speak to the new counselor?” 

Shit. I totally forgot about needing to meet with the counselor today. “No, she was all booked up today,” I lied. “I have an appointment with her tomorrow, though.” Hopefully they won’t pick up on my lie or just let it be. 

Peter nodded and reached for one of the baby books Olivia had already finished, opening it up to begin reading. “Be sure that you do,” he said, he eyes skimming down the page he was on. I pulled myself from the chair to retrieve my backpack so I could start homework but was stopped by Peter talking again, “Oh, Theo. How about you don’t forget again tomorrow, yeah?” He looked up at me from his page and winked. Of course he knew; he’s my best friend for god’s sake, he knows when I’m lying even without werewolf hearing. I nodded and continued to my room to do homework. 

**

I arrived to school a little early the next morning, ready to stop in to talk to the new counselor, Monroe I think?, and get it over with. I put my truck in park and killed the engine, stepping out while grabbing my backpack and slinging it over my shoulder. When I walked in the door, I noticed the door to Ms. Monroe’s office was closed; she must already have someone in her office. Shit. I only came in early to talk to her; hopefully whoever is in there won’t take too long. 

Oh well, I’ll just wait outside her office and do some reading for History class, I need all the help I can get with that class. It’ll be a miracle if I don’t fail. When I got closer to her office, I could hear the muffled sounds of whoever she was meeting with talking. As I got closer, I tuned my chimera hearing in to find out who the hell was making me wait. The voice I heard coming from Monroe’s office was very familiar. Male, calm and smooth, it could really only be one person. 

As I realized who it was, the door swung open and Liam collided right into me, sending us both to the ground. We both groaned in pain when we fell, both rubbing our heads after hitting each other. I stood up off the ground before Liam did and offered my hand to help him. Without looking at me, he took it and hoisted him up onto his feet. “Thanks,” he said as he raised his eyes to see who he ran into. His eyes widened when he saw me and anger flicked across his face, “Of course it’s you; you’re everywhere.” 

I was a little taken aback by his comment, was he really going to act like this every time we run into each other? “Liam, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to knock you down.” My voice was soft and sincere, but Liam wasn’t having any of it. 

“Yeah, sure you didn’t,” he scoffed. He crossed his arms across his chest and continued, “What the hell are you doing here this early anyway?” 

“I have a meeting,” I said, pointing to Monroe’s office. “With… with,” Liam shook his head like he didn’t believe me and followed my finger to look back into Monroe’s office. 

As if on cue, Monroe came out of her office to check on us, “Are you boys alright?” Her voice laced with worry. 

“We’re fine,” Liam said dryly. “I was just leaving.” 

“Okay, good,” Monroe said with a smile. “Mr. Raeken, I didn’t know we had an appointment today but I’ve got some time. Are you ready to talk?” Of course she would call me out; I can’t catch a break with Liam. Speaking of Liam, he started to shake his head at Monroe’s words and began walking away.

“Yeah,” I said turning to watch Liam walk away. “Just hold on for one second.” I turned and followed Liam, grabbing his arm when I caught up to him. “Hey. Slow down.” 

He snapped his head toward me and glared, “What do you want?” He crossed his arms over his chest again, anger obviously. 

I took a step back and removed my hand from his, “Can we talk? You know, later? Like at lunch or something?” I know I sounded pathetic in that moment, pleading with Liam to talk to me but what else was I supposed to do? 

Liam looked like he was pondering for a moment before simply replying, “No. Are we done?”

He turned to walk away again but I spoke up and stopped him, “Liam, come on.”

He turned his body around completely and stormed toward me, “No, Theo, you come on. You didn’t want anything to with me or anyone else and you just left. Now I want nothing to do with you. Do what you want, just leave me the fuck alone,” he growled, eyes glowing for a moment. Liam let out a sigh and turned around and walked down the hallway. 

“Liam!” I called after him but he didn’t turn around. “Liam…”

“Mr. Raeken, are you ready?” Monroe asked from down the hall. 

I dropped my head in disappointment and went back down the hall to Monroe’s office. She closed the door behind us as I took my seat and proceeded to sit in her seat across from me. “Do you want to tell me what that was about?” she inquired. 

I shook my head at her, “Not really.” 

She raised her head a bit and continued to pry, “Well there’s clearly something going on between you two. Not just from what I just saw in the hallway, but what I saw in the parking lot yesterday.” My eyes raised and met hers when she said that. “I see the bleeding has stopped. How’s the pain?” 

“It’s fine,” I said. “Doesn’t hurt anymore.” 

She raised her eyebrows in suspicion at me, “Really? Because where I was standing, it looked like Mr. Dunbar broke your nose, Theo. Are you sure you’re alright? Liam could be suspended for attacking another student, you know.” 

I could tell what she was trying to do. Weasel her way in and get me to open up to her; well, it’s not going to happen. “I said I’m fine. Really, I am.” I gave her a smile and finished my reassurance, “If anything changes, you’ll be the first I tell.” _Please,_ just buy it so we can stop talking about this. 

She nodded and smiled, “Okay. Whatever you say.” I let out a very visible sigh that she noticed. “Now, back to what brings you in. I know we didn’t actually have an appointment for today, but we do need to talk.” She narrowed her eyes at me and a chill ran down my spine. Her face softened and she said, “Welcome back to Beacon Hills. I heard that you left town for the summer but where were you the 3 months before that? Your school records here indicate that you missed every day and failed your senior year.” Her face turned to confusion as she looked back at me. 

Here we go, time to turn on that old Theo charm and lie my ass off. “I went through a lot,” not technically a lie, I did go through a lot. “My parents took me out of school, decided that I could repeat my year when I was ready. Now I am,” I shrugged and gave her a nonchalant look and prayed to the god I don’t believe in that she would buy the lie. 

“I see,” she nodded, looking down at the papers on her desk. “Well, Mr. Raeken, as long as you don’t miss a significant amount of days this year and stay focused on your school work, you should be on track to graduate in the spring.” She shot me a smile before adding, “If you ever need to talk to someone or need help, you can always come to me.” 

I smiled and stood up, reaching my hand across her desk to shake her hand. When she accepted, I gave her a ‘thank you’ and excused myself. Before I could leave her office, though, she added some advice, “Oh, Theo. You should get that dent in your truck taken care of. I hope your hand is okay, I guess we don’t really know our own strength.” A small smile crept on her face before she once again said ‘goodbye’ and I exited her office, closing the door behind me.

“What a creepy woman,” I muttered softly so no one but me could hear. 

The rest of my day had been pretty normal; classes were boring, lunch by myself was boring, Liam doing everything to avoid me was humorous and the glares I received from Corey and Mason were expected. 

When the final bell of the day rang, I picked up my bag and headed to the parking lot. While exiting, I could see that Liam and Corey were on the lacrosse field, practicing with Brett. What is Brett doing at Beacon Hills High? He doesn’t even go here. I fought my urge to go watch them practice and pushed myself in the front seat of my truck. Liam doesn’t want to talk to me, that’s fine. He doesn’t want anything to do with me, also fine. He doesn’t want to see me, even better. I’ll just finish high school and leave Beacon Hills and he’ll never have to see me again. 

I glanced back at the lacrosse field one last time and saw Ms. Monroe watching from beside her parked car. She was picking up a lacrosse ball that had made its way into the parking lot, no doubt from one of Liam’s shots, and inspecting it. She glanced up and met my eyes; I gave her a smile and a nod and she waved back at me in response. I started my engine and pulled out of the parking lot. 

The whole way home all I could think about, like yesterday, was the way Liam acted toward me. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. What right does he have to treat me that way? Yeah, I left and didn’t tell him but that doesn’t warrant him shutting me out. I didn’t kill anyone, hell I didn’t even hurt anyone! And yet, he wants nothing to do with me. The least he could do is hear me out instead of just shutting me out. 

I hadn’t known I made it back to the apartment until I was slamming the front door shut, much to the disliking of Peter and Olivia. The glanced up at me while I walked straight to my room but made no attempt to talk to me. I was thankful for that. When I entered my room, I grabbed the duffle bag that was covered with dust from the corner of the closet and grabbing some items to throw in it. My silence was short lived as Olivia came into my room with a low knock. “Theo?” 

I didn’t look at her; I just continued shoving some clothes into my duffle bag. “Hmm?” I replied, still preoccupied with filling my duffle bag. 

“What are you doing?” she asked when she witnessed my throwing clothes into my bag. “Are you leaving?” 

I stopped throwing things into the bag long enough to look up and see a hurt look on her face. “Just for the night,” I said with a small, awkward smile. “I just need to blow off some steam. Be on my own for a little bit.” When she nodded, I resumed filling the duffle bag with my clothes and a few snacks. 

Olivia exited the room just as Peter was stepping in, “Liam still giving you a hard time?” I didn’t respond verbally, just nodded as I zipped the bag closed and put it on my shoulder. “Where are you going?” He sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to him, prompting me to sit next to him. 

I complied, dropping my bag on the floor in the process, “I don’t know yet. Maybe the preserve? Go for a run and then park somewhere for the night.” I looked over and saw him processing what I was saying. “It’s just for tonight, I promise. I just need a night to be alone and figure all this out. I don’t even know why it bothers me so much,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t know what to do, Peter. He told me he wants nothing to do with me. Besides you and Olivia, he is the only person I care about in this town and he doesn’t even want me around. So, I just need to take some time and figure everything out.” I dropped my head into my hands after I realized how pathetic everything I just said sounded. 

Peter raised a hand and placed it on my shoulder as he spoke, “Hey, it’s alright to be upset. But don’t let it ruin you. If he wants nothing to do with you, then that’s his loss. Make new friends,” I scoffed at his comment. Liam and I weren’t friends; he was my only friend at the moment. “Make any friend,” he amended. “Join a club, try out for a sport, do anything but let that little beta worm his way inside you and self-destruct.”

I smiled at him and stood up. “Thanks Peter. I really appreciate it.” He nodded to me and walked out of the apartment with a small wave to Olivia, who still looked devastated that I was leaving for the night. I closed the door behind me and made my way down the stairs to where my car was parked. I put my bag in the backseat when I reached my truck and ignited the engine. Throwing the car in drive, I pulled out of the garage and headed toward the preserve, trying desperately to not think about Liam. 

**

After my run, I changed my clothes so I wasn’t drenched with sweat and crawled into the backseat. I don’t know how long I had been laying there staring at the ceiling but after some time, I must have dozed off. 

I was woken up by tapping on my window. I cracked my eyes open to see a police officer standing outside of my car, shining his flashlight in my face with a displeased look. “You can’t sleep here, son,” he said. I nodded and moved to the front seat, starting up my truck and taking off to find somewhere else. 

This process repeated another 5 times tonight. I’d find a place, pull over and park and climb into the back seat to sleep only to be woken up by the police telling me to move. After a while, I just stayed awake, sitting in the backseat thinking about what I should do regarding Liam. 

I knew the answer was simple, but I didn’t like it. I just had to let him go, leave him be. Who knows? Maybe it will be best for the both of us. I pulled out my phone and looked through my contacts, which there weren’t many. There were only 3 names sprawled out on the screen: Peter, Olivia and Liam. I clicked on Liam’s name and hovered my thumb over his number, contemplating whether or not I should call. 

Before I could decide what to do, I saw something moving from the corner of my eye. I locked my screen and dropped my phone into the passenger seat and I shifted my gaze to my left hand. My heart skipped a beat as I noticed a spider crawling around my hand, just exploring. There’s not much in this world that terrifies me, but spiders are one of them. I don’t know why, but since I was a child, I have always detested spiders; they scare the shit out of me. They’re just so fucking creepy. But right now, in this moment, the little thing didn’t bother me. It was just wandering around, looking for a place to belong. Like me. 

I watched it move with uneasy fascination, twisting my arm around every time it went around so that I could still see it. After a few minutes, the spider stopped moving at my wrist and just sat there. I stared at it and leaned my head closer to see what it was doing. I swear if it fucking bites me, I will kill again. The spider, that is. I’ll kill the spider. In an instant, the spider’s body surged forward and it burrowed its way into my skin. I let out a pained gasp and tried to inspect how the little devil got in. There were no cuts on my wrist, just perfectly smooth skin. I noticed a lump in my wrist where the spider had burrowed its way n and saw it start moving. _The damn thing was moving through my body, what the fuck._

I turned the key in the ignition, bring my truck to life and threw the gear in drive as I sped down the street. I kept my eyes on the spider as it moved its way through my body, ready to just rip open my skin and kill the damn thing. After a few minutes, I reached my destination and hopped out of the truck. I ran up to the door and found the hidden key so I could enter the establishment. After entering the Veterinarian’s office, I made my way to where Deaton operates. I frantically searched through drawer after drawer, looking for a way to get this freeloader out of my body. 

In the third drawer I finally found what I was looking for: a scalpel. I dropped the instrument onto the metal table by the operating bed and shrugged off my shirt, dropping it onto the bed. I grabbed the mirror that was on the table and held it up behind me; the spider had made its way to my lower back, climbing its way up. I reached for the scalpel and gripped it in my hand, bringing to the small of my back. With a deep breath I plunged the scalpel into my back, hoping I would also puncture the arachnid so I can get it out of me. I let out a low growl through gritted teeth as I pulled the scalpel out of my back, accompanied by the spider still stuck to the sharp edge. I brought it up to my face and watched as its legs kicked trying to get free, a look of triumph on my face. The smile on my face quickly disappeared as the spider did as well in a puff of smoke. 

My eyes widened in fear as I dropped the scalpel to the ground. What the fuck? Where the hell did it go? I really didn’t want to stick around to figure out. I grabbed my shirt and threw it back on as I made my way to the front door. I walked out of the vet’s office, locking it up and returning the key before hopping back into my still running truck. 

I let out an uneasy breath as I closed my eyes, trying to calm down from what just happened. A sound of knocking on my window startled me back to reality. I opened my eyes to see a man standing outside my truck, flashlight pressed against the window, blinding me a little. 

“Alright, alright,” I said, almost growling. “I’m leaving.” I went to put the truck in drive but when I turned my head I noticed that I was surrounded by 5 other men, all holding guns pointed in my direction. I turned my head back to the guy I saw originally and saw that the flashlight was now replaced by a shotgun. _Fuck._ I raised my hands in surrender, ready to give them everything they wanted – my truck, wallet, phone. I am not ready to die again, it’s not worth it. Before I could offer, they started emptying bullets into my truck and everything went black.


	7. Chapter Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again with another rough chapter. This is probably my least favorite chapter of all. Full disclosure though, I'm losing inspiration for this story. :( I hope it returns! I love you guys!

Liam’s POV

Anger and disbelief coursed through my body as I made my way through the hallways of Beacon Hills High, heading for my locker. Who the fuck does he think he is? He should understand why I don’t want to talk to him; he fucking left. He left Beacon Hills and didn’t say a word, just packed up in his truck and drove off without saying a single word to me or the pack. He didn’t care about telling me anything, so I don’t care about whatever bullshit explanation he was going to try to sell to me. When I reached my locker, I opened it up and exchanged the books I didn’t need for the ones I did, throwing them violently against the hard metal. “Fucking asshole,” I muttered as I slammed the door closed.

“Who are you talking about?” I practically jumped out of my skin when the voice rang out next to me and turned to my left, hand clutching my heart, to see who was trying to kill me via heart attack.

“Jesus Christ, Corey! Just because you’re a chameleon, doesn’t mean you should sneak up on people all the time!” I yelled at the younger boy, who frowned in return. “Sorry, you just scared the shit out of me.” 

“I’m sorry, I thought you heard me. I was calling your name,” his expression softened a bit, but a small frown was still there. “Who’s an asshole?” he asked again when he could tell my heart beat had returned to normal again. 

I looked up at him confused and asked, “What?” 

“Who’s an asshole?” he repeated, crossing his arms over his chest. Did I really say that out loud? “When I was trying to get your attention, you were muttering something about ‘bullshit’ and ‘leaving.’ Then you slammed your locker and said ‘fucking asshole.’” He tried his best to imitate my tone of voice throughout his explanation and I did everything I could to not laugh at him. His expression changed and it appeared that a lightbulb just went off in his head, “Was it Theo?” 

I contemplated lying to him for a second, but Corey already knows that he’s back and that he’s annoying the shit out of me. Also, I’m a terrible, terrible liar. “Yeah,” I said with a small shrug. “I ran into him, literally, leaving Ms. Monroe’s office and he tried to talk to me. Said he wanted to meet at lunch, probably to give me a bullshit excuse for why he just disappeared and didn’t say anything.” 

Corey let out a small sigh as he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. When his eyes opened, he gave a small shrug, leaned against the lockers and said, “Maybe you should talk to him.” 

He wasn’t serious, right? Corey, innocent Chimera Corey, thinks that I should talk to evil manipulative Chimera Theo? He’s gone crazy. There is no way that I am going to sit down with that asshole and let him weasel his way into my head again. The first time I let him he was able to get me to try and kill Scott. Okay, maybe that’s not entirely on Theo but he set the ground work for it. And the last time I let him he made me think that he had changed and that he was now a ‘good boy’ and wanted to play on the right side. But then he left, clearly uninterested in being with any of us. He got what he wanted, freedom, and just took off at the most convenient moment; when no one was watching him. Who knows what he could do if I let him do it again. 

I shook my head a little and looked at Corey in disbelief, “there is no w-“

“What’re we talking about?” Corey and I turned our heads to find Mason walking up to join us. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s shoulders and gave him a kiss before turning his attention to me. “What did I interrupt?” 

Before I could answer him and tell him how crazy his boyfriend is, Corey answered, “Theo told Liam he wants to talk to him today at lunch. Probably to explain where he’s been for the last 3 months and why he left in the first place. I told him he should, just to get it over with. Personally, I don’t really care where he’s been or why he left but Liam does; and he’s refusing to talk to him because he’s stubborn.”

I turned my attention back to Corey, the all too familiar confused look returning to my face as I spoke, “What are you saying? I don’t care about what he’s been doin-“

“Liam,” Mason glared as he cut me off. “We all know that you care about him. Maybe not him personally, but you care that he just left without saying anything. You literally won’t stop talking about it,” a smile crept across his face when he saw the look on my face. “I’m with Corey, you should talk to him. Clearly, he won’t leave you alone until you do. And honestly, you’re going to see him every day for the next 6 months until senior year is over. Just talk to him, get it over with and then hopefully you won’t have to talk him again.”

Maybe they’re right, I should just let him talk and explain everything instead of ignoring him. I’m sure we’re going to have to talk sooner or later. You know what, no. I don’t have to talk to him. I can avoid him every day for the next 6 months, he’ll give up eventually. And once we both graduate, we’ll never have to see each other again. I gave my two friends a shocked look and scoffed, “You two are insane. There is no way that I am going to talk to Theo Raeken. Fuck him. I am not going to give him the chance to manipulate me again, not for a third time.” I ignored the confusion that flushed over their faces at that comment and continued, “I can just avoid him, he’ll get bored eventually and give up on trying.” 

I turned and walked away from them before they could say anything else to convince me. I spent the rest of the day actively avoiding him. Every time I saw him in the hallway, I turned around and walked the other way. When I saw him at lunch, I glared at him for a moment and then turned my head away from him and back to the conversation Corey and Mason were having, pretending to be interested. From the corner of my eye I saw him get up and walk toward our table. Before he could get us, though, I excused myself and walked away, throwing my trash away and headed to the locker room. When school was over, Corey and I went to the lacrosse field to practice with Brett before our game against Devenford Prep this weekend. After watching Brett score his 10th goal against Corey, I looked up to the parking lot and noticed Theo watching us for a minute before looking away. I followed his gaze and found that he was looking at the counselor, Ms. Monroe and he waved at her before getting in his truck and pulled out of the parking lot. I couldn’t help from thinking the maybe Ms. Monroe was the only person he really talked to today and a feeling of guilt flowed through me at the thought. God damn it, I’m really going to regret this. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to Theo and give him a chance to explain everything. Maybe it’ll all make sense and we can move past it. But that’s a big maybe. 

**

My eyes cracked open as my alarm went off and I groaned, not ready for the day. I reached over and slammed my hand on the button to turn my alarm off before I threw it out my window. I dropped my hand back down to my side and closed my eyes again; I just have a feeling that today is going to be terrible. 

Opening my eyes again, I reached for my phone to send Theo a text. As I started to type out the message, I realized that I didn’t even have his number. I erased the message and typed out a new one to Peter: 

_Liam: Give me Theo’s number  
Peter: Good morning to you, too  
Liam: Good morning, asshole  
Liam: Now, please give me his number  
Peter: What makes you think I have his number?  
Liam: Peter, I could smell u on his scent yesterday at school. I don’t want 2 know y, just give me his number  
Peter: Fine  
Peter: And just so you know, he’s been living with us. I know he probably hasn’t told you. But that could be because you won’t even give him a minute to talk._

Another feeling of guilt filled my body. He was right, I knew nothing about what Theo was doing or where he was living. But I’ll figure all that out today. I opened a new message and typed one out to Theo and hit send: 

_Liam: Meet me at my locker b4 school. U get 10 min to explain everything_

I locked my phone and got out of bed to get ready for the day. I went to my dresser and pulled out some clothes to wear before making my way to the bathroom to take a shower. I turned the water on, almost scolding hot, shrugged my clothes off and got in. As the water ran over my body, I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. Why was Theo living with Peter and Olivia? Why doesn’t he just stay with his fake parents? I was pulled from my thoughts by the sound of my phone vibrating. 

I turned the water off and grabbed the towel I had laid out. I dried myself off and stepped out of the shower, instantly reaching for my phone. I found myself hoping that Theo had responded and that he was willing to talk to me, even after I was a complete asshole to him yesterday and well, every day since I found out he was back. Unlocking my phone, I found that the message wasn’t from Theo, but was another from Peter: 

_Peter: When you talk to him today, tell him to respond to my texts. We need to know if he’s coming home tonight or staying out again like last night  
Liam: He didn’t stay with you guys last night? Why?  
Peter: No, said he needed to blow off some steam.  
Liam: Why? What’s been bothering him?  
Peter: You, dumbass_

And there’s that guilty feeling again. I locked my phone and dropped it to the counter, taking a long breath to calm myself down. I gripped the sides of the sink hard, hearing the glass starting to crack as my anger built. But I’m not angry with Theo, I’m more angry with myself. I’ve been brushing Theo off for days and telling him to leave me alone and it’s forced him to leave his new home to calm down. This is not who I am. I don’t drive people away, drive them want to be alone to blow off steam. What am I becoming? 

My phone vibrating forced me to loosen my grip on the sink before I completely shattered it. I looked down at my phone again and unlocked it, seeing a few missed messages from Mason: 

_Mason: On my way  
Mason: Here  
Mason: Dude, are you coming? I’ve been sitting out here for 15 mins. We’re going to be late_

Shit. My fit of anger caused me to miss the messages and now I’m going to be late for school. And also be late for my ‘meeting’ with Theo. I threw on some clothes and shot a text to Theo as I ran outside and got in Mason’s car. 

_Liam: Running late, meet me at lunch. Sry_

**

Because of me, Mason and I missed first period and made it just in time to get to second period. I made it through the rest of the morning and still haven’t heard from Theo; from what I can tell he hasn’t even read my messages. Now, it’s lunch time and I don’t even see the asshole here. Did he even come to school today? 

“What’s wrong with you?” The voice startled me and I jumped a little as I looked up. Mason and Corey had just joined me at the lunch table and were clearly taking in my perplexed expression. “Liam?” Mason asked as he sat down across from me, Corey by his side. 

“Yeah,” I replied, looking back down at my plate. “I’m fine.” Honestly, I didn’t know whether I was fine or not. Sure, I had agreed to finally hear Theo out but I really didn’t want to, did I? I mean, I owe it to him to let him speak, especially after finding out that he left his home because of me but deep down, I am still pretty angry about what he did. “No, I’m not,” I sighed. There was no use lying to them, they know me too well, they know when something’s wrong. 

Mason’s eyes softened, “What’s going on?” 

I don’t even know where to begin. There’s too much that I’m feeling right now to explain to them. Guilt. Anger. Sadness. Confusion. “I decided that you guys were right,” I said, looking up at them. They met my eyes with confusion, prompting me to continue. “I texted Theo this morning and told him to meet me at lunch. I’m was going to hear him out, let him explain. Who knows, maybe it’ll make sense. I doubt it, but I figured I’d let him try.” I purposely omitted the part about him living with Peter and that he went out last night to blow off steam due to how I’ve been avoiding him. It’s not something they need to know right now. “Have you guys seen him? I haven’t seen him all day and he hasn’t returned my texts.” 

Corey was the first to speak up, “I haven’t seen him all day. Usually I at least pass him in the hallway but I haven’t seen him.” He shook his head and looked over to Mason. 

“Me either,” he said, shaking his head like Corey did. “Maybe he just didn’t come today?” 

Maybe that was true, maybe he just didn’t feel like coming today. But something didn’t feel right. He’s trying to graduate, right? He missed so many days last year that there’s no way he’d risk missing days this year if he was truly trying to graduate. “Yeah, maybe,” I said anyway, pulling out my phone. Still no messages from Theo. I unlocked my phone and sent him another set of messages: 

_Liam: I get it  
Liam: I’m an asshole  
Liam: But did u really have 2 skip school just so u wouldn’t run into me?  
Liam: Come on, Theo. _

I looked up from my phone when I heard someone approaching our table, fast. From the scent I caught, I could tell whoever it is they’re supernatural and in pain. I jumped up, ready to defend my friends if I had to, letting my eyes glow a golden yellow and came face to face with Lori. “Lori? What are you-“ I started to ask what she was doing here but she cut me off. 

“Brett’s missing,” she yelled frantically, grabbing my arms for stabilization. My eyes extinguished their glow and I stared at her puzzled. What did she mean Brett was missing? I just saw him yesterday. Where the hell could he have gone in less than 24 hours? “He didn’t come home last night. He won’t answer my texts. Liam, I’m freaking out. You have to help me!” 

I broke free from her grasp and grabbed her shoulders, “we will. I promise.” I assured her that we would find him, but I didn’t even know where to begin. Another thought crossed my mind at that moment; I knew of another person who was missing. Another person that didn’t go home last night. Another person who isn’t returning texts. Theo. 

I tried not to think about that. I want to believe that he’s changed and that he’s not the same guy he used to be. He wouldn’t do anything to Brett; why would he? He doesn’t even know him. I’m going to take this as a coincidence for now until we have more solid evidence. Maybe I’m think about this the wrong way. Maybe my mind just immediately jumps to Theo being the bad guy, which again has caused the guilt in me to flare up again. Maybe the same reason Brett’s missing is the same reason no one has heard from Theo. We have to find Brett; we have to find them both. 

Lori’s voice pulled me from my thoughts, “follow me.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the parking lot, Mason and Corey following close behind. We finally stopped at a familiar silver Toyota, still parked in the same spot it was yesterday. “It’s-“

“Brett’s car,” I finished for her as I stepped forward. A metallic smell caught my attention and pulled me to the trunk. “Pop it,” I said. Corey went to the driver’s door and opened it, pressing the button to release the trunk. When it opened, I looked inside and found the source of the smell. Blood. The blood, though, was on a lacrosse stick. Brett’s broken lacrosse stick. I pulled it out and held it up for the rest to see it. “He’s been stabbed,” I whispered. As I looked it over more carefully, I noticed something else mixed into the blood. The purple substance was almost unnoticeable under all the blood; woflsbane. “We have to find him, he’s been poisoned with wolfsbane. Lori and I will start tracking. Corey, Mason, call Scott and have him meet us in the woods.” With a nod of their heads, I turned to Lori, “ready to find your brother?” And Theo, I added to myself. She nodded her head and we both took off running toward the woods. School can wait, Brett’s hurt and could be dying. I don’t know who did this, but it has to be a hunter. A hunter, or hunters, is back in Beacon Hills tracking down the supernatural again. This is just great. 

**  
“I think he set a trap,” I said as Malia and Scott approached Lori and me. 

Scott gave a small smile before saying, “He’s fighting back.”

“Now we know he’s alive,” Malia said a matter of factly. 

Lori nodded her head and stepped forward, grabbing the arrow stuck in the tree and yanked it out. “But he’s still hurt. We need to find him. He needs to know we’re here.” Lori’s eyes shone a bronze yellow, her fangs bared and ready to howl to signal her brother that she was coming for her. 

Before she could roar, Malia covered her mouth, “You want the hunter to know we’re here too?” Malia looked like she was ready to knock Lori out if she tried again, as if doing so was the stupidest thing she could do. 

I had to admit, roaring would be a good and bad idea. On one hand, Brett, and Theo, would know we were here and coming for him. But on the other hand, the hunter would also know that we were here and coming for our friend. “He’s still new. We can take him,” I said hopefully, backing up Lori. 

Malia glared back at me and said, “But what if Brett howls back too? It’ll lead the hunter right to him. Then this would all be for nothing. We have the element of surprise right now; the hunter doesn’t know that we’re here looking for him.” She looked to Scott for backup, Lori and I’s heads turning to Scott as well, waiting for his decision. 

Scott looked to all of us before speaking, taking in all considerations, “We can find him first. Humans can’t track sound as fast we can. We’ve got the advantage; we’ve done this before, we know what we’re doing, guys.” He finished his statement with a smile. He was right, we have the advantage here. Brett can signal his location to us and we could get to him before any hunter would be able to. 

I took the arrow from Lori’s hand as Malia said, “How come I can’t catch his scent?” 

I examined the blood on the arrow and saw blood pooled on the ground below us just as Lori said, “He’s masking it.”

“Can someone tell him not to? It’s really inconve-“

“This way!” I yelled, not caring that I cut Malia’s insensitivity off. Lori and I took off running through the woods, following the tracks of blood in the dirt. We followed the trail of blood until it ended, and there was no Brett. No Theo, either. I haven’t been able catch his scent the entire time we’ve been out here and I don’t think he’s able to mask his scent like Brett. I sighed a little to myself in relief, maybe Theo was never out here. Maybe he’s perfectly fine somewhere else. Theo’s alright, I told myself. He just needs some time, but he’ll talk to us, Peter and I mostly, when he’s ready. Until then though, we need to find Brett. 

“The trails gone,” Malia pointed out, still looking around for a sign of distress or trace. 

Scott followed Malia’s gaze, also trying to see something that wasn’t in plain sight, “Maybe he just stopped bleeding.” That is the hopeful option, but not the likely one. There is still a hunter out here, with Brett, with us, and they are still hunting him. Whether Brett is still bleeding or not, this hunter isn’t giving up. And neither are we. 

“What if we split up?” I offered. Splitting up is never a good idea but we don’t have a lot of time to argue right now, we have to find Brett now. 

“Maybe we go in four different directions,” Lori said, raising her brows in question. 

Malia and Scott stepped back over to us, Malia crossing her arms as she stopped moving and said, “we should stick together.”

“We have the advantage,” I argued. “It’s four of us against one of them.” 

“Not if we split up,” she pointed out as Scott examined rocks that were scattered on the ground. 

I felt anger building inside me and did everything I could to keep it contained. “I’ve been doing this the past three months without you,” I said to her. “I think I can make a decision.” 

“Well if your decision is to do something stupid and die, then go ahead,” she scoffed with a shake of her head. 

She’s kidding, right? “It’s one hunter, one amateur that doesn’t know what they’re doing,” I pointed out. Surely, 3 werewolves and 1 werecoyote could take one amateur hunter, even if we split up. I mean, come on. 

Malia looked down to Scott, who was still looking over the ground, “Scott,” she said with a pleading tone, nodding her head to me. Scott looked up at her and then to me before returning his gaze to the ground and wiped leaves across the ground, revealing foot prints in the dirt. 

“The hunter,” I said. Then it registered what he was doing, “he’s covering his tracks.” This was an amateur, though, right? Would an amateur know to cover their tracks this well? 

Scott looked back up to us and said, “There’s more than one. Maybe even more than two.” This is bad. This is a lot worse than we thought initially, we need to find Brett and we need to find him now, before these hunters do. 

I noticed Lori’s eyes wander off to the side of us as I tried to convince Malia that splitting up could still be a good idea, even though part of me knew it was a terrible, terrible idea. 

“Rock balancing!” Lori exclaimed. Scott, Malia and I turned our heads to meet her gaze and saw what she was looking at. Off to the side of the clearing, there were 5 rocks, stacked on top of each other, completely balanced. “Satomi taught us. It’s him! And I know where he’s going.” She smiled and took off running through the clearing. 

We all shared a look before taking off after her, “Lori, wait!” I yelled after her. Malia was right, we need to approach this together, or at least in pairs. We continued running until we caught up with Lori, who had stopped at the entrance to the tunnels. “Down there?” I asked, really hoping she would say no. Nothing good ever happens in the tunnels. I felt my shoulders drop when she nodded; Brett was down there and we had no other choice than to go down and get him. 

We all climbed down the ladder and immediately found the blood trails again. We followed them until they stopped and Lori scooped her hand through his blood, his noticeably black blood. “Black blood,” she said, looking back up at us, confirming my earlier notion that he had been stabbed with wolfsbane. “It’s wolfsbane.” 

“That’s why he’s not healing,” Scott said with a small sigh. 

“He could only have a few hours to live,” I said. “If we howl, we can find him.” I know we’re in a confined space and that the hunters are probably down here with us right now but this might be our only hope to find Brett and save him. 

“It’s too risky,” Malia said as she stepped forward. “He’s still moving, though. He has to be,” she glanced back up to me and Scott with a hopeful look. 

“I need him to know that I’m here,” Lori said, pleading with us to do something. “I need him to know that I’m coming for him.” 

“Lori’s right,” I said looking to Scott. “He needs to know we’re here.” If he knows that we’re here then he’ll be able to signal his location to us and we can find him. Or he can hide somewhere until we find him. This is our only chance of getting him out of here alive. I ignored Malia’s warnings and the ‘wait’ she called and let out a loud, deafening roar down the tunnel, letting Brett know we’re here and we’re on our way. 

“You idiot!” Malia yelled, pushing me hard against the pipes on the walls. “You’re going to get us all killed!” Her eyes changed to a bright blue for just a moment before returning to their normal hazel color. 

I pushed her back slightly, just enough to free myself from the wall and defended myself, “He needs to know we’re here. We can get to him before the hunters do!” 

“You don’t know that for sure, Liam,” Scott said, stepping forward and placing his arm on my shoulder. I looked up to him with a small apologetic look. He just shook his head and said, “Let’s get going. If we’re going to find Brett before the hunters, we need to start looking.” We all nodded and started tracking through the tunnels. 

Lori turned a corner and led us down another corridor, completely concentrating on tracking Brett’s scent instead of figuring out her surroundings. “Why didn’t he answer?” She asked, still leading us forward, turning down different passageways as she tracked her brother’s scent. 

I shook my head, “maybe he didn’t hear us?” Maybe he got himself to a hiding place where he wouldn’t be able to hear us well. Maybe he got out. Maybe he’s already…. I forced myself to not think about that possibility. He’s still alive, he has to be. But why didn’t he hear us? 

The tunnels were particularly quiet, except for the occasional drip of water in the distance; he should have been able to hear my roar and been able to respond. The silence was broken when Scott yelled, “Lori wait!” but he was too late. Lori didn’t notice the trip wire at her feet and she stepped on it, releasing a wooden stake from the wall that plunged its way into Scott’s abdomen. “Fuck,” Scott groaned, hands gripping the stake that was lodged in his stomach. 

Malia and I surged forward, gripping the stake in our hands. Lori stabilized Scott against the wall and we pulled the stake out, throwing it to the ground on the other side of the tunnel. Scott groaned in pain and slowly collapsed to the ground, with the guidance of Lori. “I’m so sorry, Scott,” Lori murmured, leaning down next to Scott and placing her hand against his wound like Malia’s to stop the bleeding. “I should have been paying better attention.” 

“You think?” Malia growled, snapping her head so she was face to face with Lori. 

“Malia. It’s fine, Lori,” Scott sighed, an occasional grunt escaping his mouth as he tried to start his healing. “We all make mistakes.” I could tell that Scott was in more pain than he was letting on, he was trying to hide it from us so we all didn’t freak out. Even when he’s in immense pain, Scott is always in Alpha mode, ready to protect his betas. “They knew we were coming.” 

Malia put her hand over his mouth to stop him from talking, “Don’t talk. Just worry about healing and let us figure this out.” She gave him a weak smile to reassure him before standing up to address Lori and I. “Right, guys?”

I nodded my head in agreement and Lori said, “I’m sorry but I can’t wait around here. I have to find my brother.” I turned my head and stared at her, this really is not the time for us to split up. But I know that she’s going to go with or without me and it’ll be better if we go together. 

“We still have the numbers,” I stated confidently. “Three to two. We’re stronger and faster.” If we left now, we still have a chance to find Brett. 

“They’re smarter,” Scott pointed out through a pained grunt, looking up at us incredulously. 

“I don’t care,” Lori replied, almost defiantly. “I’m sorry for what happened, Scott, I truly am. Especially that I caused this. But you are not my Alpha. And he is my brother. I am going to find him, whether any of you help me or not.” She turned and took off down the tunnel, continuing her search. 

“Wait!” Scott yelled, trying to get up but falling back down to the ground with a pained groan. “You can’t go alone. Liam, go with her. Be smart. Save Brett. Save each other.” He gave me a look mixed with hope and confidence. 

“I will,” I said as I nodded to him. “Take care of yourself, heal. We’ll see you when we get Brett.” I looked to Lori and we both started walking away. “This way,” I muttered, nodding my head down the next tunnel. We took the left and continued down the path, following the fresh blood puddles on the ground. We came into a clearing when the blood disappeared and I stopped moving, taking a moment to look around and figure out where to go next. 

“Over there!” Lori yelled, pointing to the further most corner of the clearing. I followed her pointing and saw what she did; a hunched over figure hiding in the dark. “Brett!” Lori ran over to Brett and crouched next to him, wrapping her arms around him in a strong hug. “I’m so happy I found you!” Her grip on him only loosened when he groaned in pain from the strength of her hold. 

I moved over next to the two of them and leaned down, gripping Brett’s forearm with my hands and hauled him up on the ground while Lori supported his back. “You’re a dumbass,” he said lowly as he stood upright. 

I laughed at his remark, “Is that your way of thanking me?” 

“No,” he replied. “That’s my way of calling you a dumbass.” I rolled my eyes at him to feign annoyance but I was really happy that he was feeling like himself and was teasing me already. I’m taking this as a good sign. His expression softened and he said, “Thanks, Liam,” as he clapped my shoulder with is hand. 

“No pro-“ my retort was cut off by the sound of screeching coming from the end of the tunnel. We all covered our ears and snapped our heads in the direction of the noise, only to be met with a familiar flash of light. That was one of Argent’s emitters. They’re close. I whipped my head back to Brett and Lori and noticed the ladder that led to the streets behind them. “Go!” I shouted, pointing to the ladder. “I’ll hold them off!” The two nodded and started climbing as I took off down the tunnel to hold off the hunters. When I reached the end of the tunnel, no one was there; just the emitter stuck in the wall, flashing and screeching. I ripped it from the pipes and slammed it on the ground, shattering it and silencing the noise. “This was a trap,” my eyes widened as I gasped. I turned back down the tunnel and ran for the ladder, “Lori! Brett! Stop!” I tried to get to them as fast as I could but I wasn’t fast enough. By the time I reached the bottom of the ladder, Lori and Brett were already on the street and I heard the squealing of tires and the thumps of a car striking something in its way. 

No, I thought. I jumped up the ladder in one motion and landed on the street above. I turned around and saw Lori and Brett, lying on the ground bleeding. Brett looked to be unconscious, _God I hope he’s just unconscious,_ and Lori was crawling toward her brother. She reached her hands out and grabbed his, “I can’t take his pain.” Tears fell from her eyes and I couldn’t stop the ones that were forming in my eyes as well. Lori pulled herself closer and laid her head on Brett’s chest and muttered, “Close your eyes,” with a shaky breath. 

I noticed the driver of the car that hit Brett and Lori get out of his car and stare at the scene in front of him, with other drivers following suit; stopping and getting out of their car to watch two teenagers die while a bloody werewolf stood over top of them. Lori closed her eyes and her breathing stopped. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing; Brett and Lori, dead, right in front of me on the street. I couldn’t stop what came next; seeing Brett and Lori’s lifeless bodies pulled a loud, menacing growl from my body and I let it out as my eyes glowed a bronze yellow. I looked around to every person staring at me with shock and terror etched on their faces; they were scared, they thought that I had killed them. My anger rose again and let out another roar, staring at the bystanders as they ran away from the scene. My gaze returned to Brett and Lori; they were cuddled together on the wet, cold ground, life gone from their bodies and I felt the tears finally fall.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's trying to get back on a regular posting schedule? Here's an update for you guys! You all truly mean so much to me. As always, Kudos and Comments REALLY make my day! :) If you notice errors, please let me know and I'll fix them! <3

Theo’s POV

Pain radiated through my body, waking me from unconsciousness. As my eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the light in the unknown room I was in, pain shot through my limbs once again. I let out a low growl through gritted teeth and heard a laugh pierce my ears as I tried to pull myself forward toward my assailant, only to be stopped by restraints. I pulled my heavy head up and searched for the source of the laughter, finding a familiar looking man standing in front of me. His posture was familiar, his slicked back brown hair was familiar, even his oaky scent was familiar, but that’s not what tipped me off to his identity. The scowl on his face brought back haunted memories of my actions in Eichen House many months ago. “Schrader,” i said, smile spreading across my face. “Still preying on teenage kids, I see.” His expression changed from amused to disgust, causing me to chuckle softly. I dropped my head a little while laughing and saw water dripping from my apparently damp hair. I glanced at my body, which was being held against a metal gate by zip ties around my wrists, and noticed that I was completely drenched with water; or well, at least I hope its water. The smile dropped from my face as I looked up slightly and met Schrader’s eyes, amused once again now that I had finally figured out the situation I was in. He raised his arm and I saw a box with a dial on it in his hand.

I met his gaze once more and he smiled, “Always a smartass. I see nothing’s changed, Theo.” Before I could reply, he turned the dial up and pain ran through my body again, causing me to writhe and jerk my body in every direction, trying to get away from whatever is causing this intense agony. The pain was excruciating and was something I have felt many times before. I’ve been subjected to this kind of torture before many times and I’ve also been on the dealing end of this kind of torture to other people, innocent people. I was being electrocuted, over and over again; even when I was unconscious evidently, seeing as how I was woken up by the currents moving through my limbs. My body continued to flail around, electricity flowing through my frame and pained growls escaping my lungs as Schrader continued to laugh. “I’m sorry, Theo,” he said through his laughs. “I can’t really hear you. Did you say turn it up?” I cracked my eyes open just enough to witness him wipe a tear from his eyes as he continued to laugh, hysterical at the sight of me in pain, and moved his hand back to the dial and turned it up another notch. 

The electricity amplified and my tied up limbs continued to vigorously shake, trying desperately to break free of the restraints. The pain was so fierce, I could barely say anything, besides a growl here and there, let alone form a thought. Finally, the electricity stopped flowing and my body slumped forward, exhausted from the physical torment and I focused on trying to restore my breathing. I looked up to Schrader, who was stilly laughing while his hand remained on the dial, and let out a low growl. My eyes shone a golden bronze and I said, “I’m going to kill you,” through gritted teeth. The smile dropped from his face and he leaned in closer so we were face to face. 

“No, you won’t,” he said, smile returning to his face. “You’re going to die, Theo Raeken.” My eyes blazed brighter and I felt my fangs growing at the threat, my Chimera ready to fight and Schrader backed away slightly, fear replacing the confidence on his face. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow,” he continued with shaky breathes. “But you will die, Theo. I promise you that.” Disgust returned to his face and he dropped the box in his hand, picking up a metal bat instead. “You’re an abomination. You don’t deserve to roam this world with the rest of us.” 

My eyes returned to their normal shade of blue and my fangs retracted as he said those words. As much as I hate this lowlife piece of garbage, maybe he’s right. I am an abomination; something that doesn’t belong in the supernatural world, nor in the real world. I don’t deserve life, never truly did. All the things I’ve done, the things I could still do. I can try to fool myself and those around me into believing that I’ve actually changed and I wouldn’t do those things again, but have I truly? Deep down, I feel that part of me still there, ready to kill again. In my moment of weakness, I let the words, “Just get on with it, then,” slip from my mouth as I stared back at Schrader. He looked back at me with confusion on his face; no doubt because I’m not fighting him back and just accepting my fate. He stood there, bat raised and ready to swing but just continued to stare. I felt anger boiling inside me. Before I could stop myself, my anger boiled over and I blurted out, “Get on with it, you coward! Kill me! Just kill m-,“ the bat swung and connected with my face, forcing my head to turn to the left violently, neck cracking as my head dropped to my chest. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that there were two other bodies in the room with us; from the quick glance I got, it appeared that they were still breathing, just lying on the ground unconscious like I had been just minutes earlier. Before I could try to figure out who they were, I felt everything fade away. 

**

When I came back to consciousness, it was by the pained growls coming from the left of me. My eyes blinked open and I turned my head, noticing that the two kids, who I just noticed were actually werewolves, that were lying unconscious on the ground earlier were now tied to the same gate I am and were being shocked repeatedly. Schrader removed the cattle prod from the stomach of the female with blonde hair next to me and moved it to the Asian boy on her left. He poked the prod into the boy’s ribs and he screamed out in pain, body trying its best to move but unable to, much like mine earlier. 

When the psycho, Schrader, pulled the prod away, the boy gritted his teeth and huffed out a ‘I’m not going to tell you anything,’ earning him another shock from Schrader and another round of pained growls and writhing in pain. “I don’t have any questions.” He gave the boy a small smile and stepped back in front of the girl next to me. “I don’t have any questions for you either.” 

The girl growled and looked Schrader right in the eyes before saying, “Good.” I have to admit, I’m impressed with this girls’ tenacity. Schrader smiled again and plunged the taser into her stomach. She howled in pain as the electricity surged through her veins and her body shook; the Asian boy next to her yelled ‘stop!’ and Schrader pulled away for a second to look at the boy. “We’re not afraid to die,” the girl said, grabbing Schrader’s attention again. 

These two were really ready to die? What the hell is wrong with them? Witnessing the exchange in front of me had me rethinking everything I said to Schrader. I might have wanted to die earlier, or every day for the past few months, but I’m not really _ready_ to die. I’m not ready to meet Tara again, even if it is what I deserve. To be truthful, I’m actually terrified to die again; the thought alone almost petrified me. I heard Schrader speak, pulling me from my thoughts, “Does that go for everyone here?” My self-preservation flared up and I blurted out, “Not me,” before I even thought about what I was saying. All eyes turned to me for the first time, everyone registering that I wasn’t unconscious anymore. 

Schrader walked toward me and raised the prod to point at me, “Really? That’s not what you said earlier,” the familiar smile returned to his face as he recalled my earlier outburst. “You all but begged me to kill you earlier.” 

I fought the urge to growl at him and forced myself to say, “Look, I don’t know what these two losers did but I’m not a part of it!” through gritted teeth. Schrader shook his head and moved away from us, stepping toward a shelf that was in the middle of the room. He dropped the prod on a table and bent over to pick up a bucket that was on the ground. He turned around and hurled the contents of the bucket on the three us, drenching us in liquid; water. “That wasn’t friendly,” I growled. 

Schrader sat down in the chair in front of us and picked up the same box from earlier with the dial on top. He started twirling it in his hands, smirking as he watched us as if he was waiting for one of us to crack. Unfortunately, he didn’t have to wait long. The crazy blonde next to me shouted, ‘Just do it!’ and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and glare at her. Is she serious? She’s trying to get us all killed here. “Just let me do the talking!” I growled, brows furrowed in anger and eyes locked on hers as she turned her head. I turned my head back to Schrader and said, “You obviously have us here for a reason. If you tell me what you want-“ my pleading was cut off by the dial being turned up and electricity coursing through our bodies. The three of us grunted in pain in unison and we braced our bodies against the gate behind us. “I’m trying to help you,” I growled through the pain. Schrader just smiled again and turned the dial up more, increasing the voltage that is surging through our limbs. We grunted in pain again and I turned my head to the idiots next to me, “What the hell did you two do?!” I turned my attention back to Schrader, “Stop it!” The electricity stopped suddenly and our bodies slumped forward. I turned my head back to the two werewolves and mumbled, “If we get out of this alive, I’ll kill you both myself.” They both let out growls at the threat and I rolled my eyes. I’m really going to die because of something these two morons did, how the hell is that fair? Look at me, preaching about what’s _fair_ ; I’m really a hypocrite. 

The electricity started again as Schrader approached us. I dropped my head and gritted my teeth to endure the pain and noticed something from the corner of my eye. The current stopped again and I got a better look at the zip ties around my wrist. They were burning. There’s a chance; all I have to do is get Schrader to turn the electricity up to max and endure the pain long enough for the plastic to burn so I can rip my arms out of them. “That’s all you got?” I asked mockingly as I looked back up at him. He turned around and came face to face with me before turning the dial once more. I laughed through the pain and muttered, “I’m not impressed.” Another turn up. “What? Did they give you permission to shock us, but not to do any real damage?” Another. The anger on his face was building, he’s getting there. Just a little more. “You’re pathetic, Schrader. This the only gig you could get after getting fired from Eichen? You just have to find some way to torture kids, huh?” Another. He began shaking with rage. “You couldn’t kill a fly.” I started pulling my wrists forward and felt the plastic giving way. “Not like us werewolves.” He looked down to the dial and turned it to the max setting. The three of us yelled out as the max current flowed through us and I thrashed my body forward until I felt the plastic break. My eyes ignited a bright bronze yellow as I pulled my hands forward, claws ripping out of my cuticles. The shock and fear replaced the anger on Schrader’s face as he dropped the dial and turned to run. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back to me, hitting him over the head and knocking him out. 

The two werewolves freed themselves from the metal wall as I tied Schrader up to it. I walked away from them without even a glance in their direction and found my jacket, zipping it up before turning to leave. My escape was stopped when I heard the female addressing me, “Just going to leave him here?” 

I turned and looked at her. “Him and you,” I said, looking between the pair of them. I did my good deed for the day; I stopped Schrader, which allowed them to free themselves. I can’t take in stray dogs, I’m not Scott McCall; plus, I don’t even have a place of my own, I’ve been bumming it at Peter and Olivia’s for months. I couldn’t help them even if I wanted to. 

“Didn’t need your help anyway,” the boy replied. I scoffed at him, ready to retort but the girl cut me off. 

“Let’s get out of here,” she started. “I want to put as much distance between us and this town as possible.” 

I looked back at her and asked, “What, you got a car?” Maybe I could hitch a ride or just take the car and get the hell out of this town. As bad as I would feel to leave Peter and Olivia, I really don’t think staying in this town is worth the torment anymore. School, McCall’s pack, Hunters, Liam. It’s clear that nothing is going to change. 

She shook her head and reached for the table next to her, picking up a set of keys, “No, but he does.” She held the keys up and dangled them as she smiled. My eyes glanced down her arm to the black circles on her forearm. 

“What’s that?” I asked, nodding to her arm.

The boy followed my gaze and turned back to me, “Never seen a pack symbol?” he asked raising his eyebrows. 

I rolled my eyes and said, “I’m not really a pack animal.” _And you never will be_ , I added to myself. “What does it mean?” 

“They’re stacked rocks,” the girl said as she raised her sleeve more for me to see. “Buddhist practice.” 

The realization hit me; I know a Buddhist pack. “You’re part of Satomi’s pack.” 

“We were,” the boy answered. “Satomi’s dead.” What? Satomi’s dead? How the hell did that tough broad die? “Most of our pack is dead. We’re the only ones left.” That means that Brett and Lori are dead too. Does Liam know? He has to. I wonder if he’s okay or how he’s dealing; he and Brett weren’t very close from what I remember but they were still friends in some way. His anger is probably getting the best of him right now and he’s throwing a fit, destroying whatever is in his way. I felt a small smirk grow on my face at the thought of Liam’s ongoing anger issues. Why? Why does the thought of him throwing a temper tantrum like a child make me smile? 

“Why do you even care?” the girl asked, pulling me from my thoughts. Thank God. 

“I don’t,” I scoffed. “But you should find Scott McCall. He’s got a thing for taking in strays.” I gave them a mocking smirk at the insult. 

“You know Scott McCall?” The girl asked, stepping forward. 

“Do you know where he is?” The boy asked, moving next to his pack mate. 

“I might,” I smiled, holding out my hand for the keys. The girl rolled her eyes and dropped the keys into my hands. I turned to leave but noticed Schrader starting to wake up. I grabbed the box on the table, turned the dial up to max and jammed the button down on the table, shocking Schrader and ensuring that he’ll stay that way until he’s found. I turned around and walked out the room with the two werewolves trailing behind, slamming the door closed as we exited. 

**

To say that I was never going to catch a break would be an understatement. When the three of us exited the building we were being held in, we were met by the sounds of sirens and 3 police cars in the parking lot. ‘Let me handle this,’ I told the werewolves, who just nodded in response. I approached one of the cruisers and noticed the Sheriff was stepping out of it. ‘What’s the problem, Sheriff?’ I had asked. ‘Put your hands up, Theo. The three of you are under arrest.’ He wasn’t serious, I had thought because I hadn’t done anything, but he was dead serious. ‘What for?’ I asked him with a shocked expression. His face stiffened as he said ‘murder’ and pulled out his cuffs. Of course. _Of course_ I was being framed for murder, why not. Like I said many, many months before, fuck Beacon Hills. 

The ride back to the station was tense. I kept glaring at the two werewolves, who I learned were named Jiang and Tierney, and they refused to even look at me. I tried talking to them to find out what the hell they did but only got shushed by the Sheriff. I’m sure they smelled the rage radiating from my chemosignals but they made no comment. They seemed perfectly content with letting an innocent man, okay not completely innocent but innocent at this moment in time, go down for something they did. I was ready to rip their heads off, but I had to remind myself that if I had really changed and I’m not that evil Chimera anymore, I can’t kill them like old Theo would. 

When we arrived at the station, we were all locked up in the same cell. Jiang and Tierney sat together against the wall while I gripped onto the bars, looking at the camera and telling the Sheriff ‘I’m innocent’ again and again. After a few minutes of no replies, I accepted that I had to do their job for them and clear my own name. I poked and prodded at the two young werewolves, hoping one of them would snap. I kept pushing their buttons, worming my way in until one of them finally broke. After Jiang admitted to him and Tierney killing two people, yelling ‘We were defending ourselves!’ I smiled at him and looked back the camera, saying, ‘Good enough for you?’ Jordan Parrish, hellhound extraordinaire, came in shortly after and released me from the cell. 

As I was signing the paperwork so I could get the hell out of the station and just go home, my hearing focused on familiar voices coming from the Sheriff’s office. _God Dammit,_ I thought. _Of course they’re here._ I dropped the pen and clipboard back on the desk and made my way to the office; before I reached the door, though, bright lights flooded into the station. I stepped to the window and looked out, seeing none other than Tamora Monroe, Beacon Hills High School counselor leading the charge of a militia armed with a ton of guns right outside. Why was she with them? I palmed my face for being so stupid as I realized; she’s leading the hunters. Of course, every counselor of that damn high school has wound up being bad, so why didn’t I see it sooner? I shook my head and retreated toward the Sheriff’s office once more, opening the door when I arrived. Walking in, I heard Scott say, ‘it’s our job to keep them alive,’ to which I replied, ‘not mine.’ Not my best move, I admit, but it was the first thing I thought of. I’m not dying for all these people that I barely know. Malia said, ‘Do you want me to kill him?’ while Liam stepped forward with his fists balled and growled. I stared at Liam; clearly, he was still mad at me. Fine. I’m done trying with him, screw what Peter said. I’ve given him enough chances to come around; I’m done. 

I had turned and started walking away when I heard Scott say, ‘We go. But Jiang and Tierney come with us.’ I scoffed a little; Scott McCall, always so noble and brave, taking in all strays. Part of me wishes I could be like Scott, ready to help everyone all the time but it’s not realistic. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty or in my case, all the time. It’s why I don’t and will never have a pack. No one wants to have to trust someone like that to have their back. And I understand. 

Before I could get too far, I felt my arm being grabbed and I was shoved into the bathroom. I turned around, ready to attack whoever it was but came face to face with Liam. I took a step back and looked at him confused. His face still displayed anger while he asked, ‘Where are you going?’

I looked him up and down before I answered, ‘I’m getting out of here. And you should too.’ 

‘So, you’re just going to run? Again?’ For a moment, it looked as if sadness flashed across his face when he asked that but the look was gone just as fast as it appeared, the anger reclaiming its rightful place on his face. 

I crossed my arms over my chest and opted not to point out his miniscule change in mood and said, ‘Monroe isn’t going to stop. Nothing we say is going to make them get in their cars and drive away. Those two losers killed hunters-‘

‘They killed their pack,’ Liam interjected.

‘So what,’ I retorted, anger flaring up again. I had not had the best couple days; I had been tortured and almost killed, I had been framed for murder and now we’re about to be killed by Monroe. All she wants is those two idiots who killed members of her army. ‘Monroe is going to tear through anything standing between her and those two losers. That means you, Lydia, Malia and Scott. Do you really want to see your friends die?’ I was seething with anger. Same old Liam, ready to live by Scott’s side and follow him; even into death. He has no sense of self-preservation. It’s maddening. 

‘You’re just going watch hunters murder them?’ Liam asked as his face softened a little. ‘Jiang and Tierney weren’t the only ones a part of Satomi’s pack.’ I knew who he was talking about; Brett and Lori. 

‘Yeah, the hit and run,’ I said as I turned around. I could feel the anger building but I couldn’t stop myself from saying the words I knew I shouldn’t have, ‘Sorry if I’m not losing sleep over some random roadkil-‘

‘They were murdered!’ Liam yelled, anger returning to his features. ‘Brett and Lori! They didn’t have anything to do with this.’

‘So what, you think saving those two idiots is going to make you feel better?’ My tone came off like I was mocking him, but I wasn’t trying to. I was just trying to get him to see that saving Jiang and Tierney wouldn’t bring Brett and Lori back. But like usual, I didn’t handle it all that gracefully. ‘Your dead friends are dead; and their going to stay dead no matter what you d-‘

Liam’s fist connected with my face before I could finish that sentence. Probably a good idea and I was a little thankful for it. Liam started walking away, stepping over me as he exited the bathroom and said ‘By the way, I’m still working on my anger.’

‘Good to know,’ I waved, stopping myself from saying anything else to piss Liam off even more. 

And that’s how I wound up here, lying on the ground nursing a broken nose. I let the anger I had of being tortured and framed and the thought of getting mowed down by hunters get the best of me and I lashed out at Liam in an insensitive way, causing him to punch me in the face, breaking my nose. I’m a fucking idiot! What was I thinking?! I knew that was a sensitive subject for Liam and yet I went there anyway. No matter how I feel about Liam now, I don’t ever want to hurt him, not anymore. 

I pulled myself up off the ground and set my nose so the healing could start. After wiping the blood off my face, I exited the bathroom and rejoined the group waiting in the lobby of the station. My eyes met Liam’s for only a moment before our attention was grabbed by the sound of glass breaking and the shocked yelps of many of the inhabitants in the station. All eyes turned to find that an arrow flew through the window and lodged itself into the wall behind us. Malia was the first to step forward and pry the arrow out of the wall, examining it, but it was Liam that noticed there was something attached to it. We all gathered around Malia and Liam, confused and still in shock, to see what Monroe wanted us to find. Liam peeled the piece of fabric off the arrow and unfolded it, revealing a piece of a green jersey, covered in blood with the number ‘7’ on it. “This is Brett’s number,” Liam said, voice shaking with anger. 

“They’re trying to rattle us,” I turned my head at the voice to find it was Lydia that spoke up, visibly shaken by what just happened. 

“It’s working,” I said, turning to look in Liam’s direction, whose eyes shone a bright bronze gold instead of his normal ocean blues. Scott turned and looked between myself and Liam, noticing the change in his Beta’s eyes. Before he could say anything, though, a loud scream echoed through the station. Parrish and Sheriff Stilinski went to investigate the noise and told the rest of us to ‘Stay put.’ 

I looked back to Liam, eyes still gold and body still shaking; I started walking across the lobby to get to him and try to calm him down but again was cut off by a loud noise, this time it was a gunshot. The gunshot came from the room Stilinski and Parrish just entered and well turned our heads in confusion and worry, not sure of what just happened. After a few moments, Parrish and Stilinski emerged from the room with Nolan in tow, when the hell did he get here by the way, and let us know that two of his deputies had killed themselves due to the stress of the situation. Liam moved across the room and grabbed Nolan by the scruff of his neck and pushed him down the hallway toward the holding cells. I followed closely behind, you know, just to make sure everything was alright, and watched as Liam threw Nolan into a cell and closed it. “What are you doing?” Nolan asked, voice shaking with fear. “Trying to save your life, dumbass, now shut up,” Liam said as he turned around and walked away, passing right by me without a single look, the newly freed Jiang and Tierney following close behind. Our ‘relationship’ has resumed its normality; Liam ignoring me and me trying not to care. 

I walked back to the lobby and leaned against the wall with my arms crossed. It’s almost midnight and Monroe is about to come in here, guns a blazing, with her army to take us out one by one. I’m not going out like that, I can promise you. When she starts her onslaught, I’m going to slip out unnoticed and get the hell out of this town once and for all. No one needs me here. Peter has Olivia and the baby on the way. And Liam, well Liam doesn’t need me, nor does he want me around, so I’ll just take off and save us both the trouble of having to interact. 

I closed my eyes and listened to the conversations going on in the other room. Something about the deputies killing themselves out of panic and something being in here with us, I don’t know, no one tells me anything. Lydia said that whatever is causing the fear is here, in the station. I have noticed that everyone, including myself, has been a little bit more on edge lately; I just attributed my case to being abducted and almost murdered but maybe something is causing it. I don’t know if there is anything in here with us or not, I haven’t seen anything, but if there is I’ll handle it the way I have to if it comes to it. But something Scott said caught my attention and pulled my eyes open. “What if we give her what she wants?” he inquired to Lydia and Stilinski, who both said ‘what?’ at the same time. Instead of answering, he walked out of the room and approached me. “What do you know about how Jiang and Tierney were taken?” 

I looked at him for a moment before replying, “Not much, I saw them unconscious on the ground next to me before I went unconscious myself. But they had to be there for just as long as I was.” 

Scott moved and started walking toward the window, prompting me to follow. As we stepped next to the window, he looked outside as he asked, “Did Monroe talk to them?” and looked back at me. 

I followed his gaze outside and looked back, “No, I don’t think so.” I shook my head and tried to remember the events of earlier this evening, “Just that guy from Eichen, maybe one or two others that brought them in. I think they were waiting for Monroe to do the real interrogating.”

The look on his face was one of disbelief, “So she might not have seen them?” 

I just shook my head, answering ‘no.’ 

“What are you getting at, Scott?” Stilinski asked, skepticism written on his face. 

“I got an idea,” he said, dropping his head as he continued, “but I don’t think you’re going to like it.”

“If it keeps someone from being killed, I’m pretty open,” Stilinski said and I found myself nodding in agreement with him. 

“Monroe said she wanted Jiang and Tierney brought out,” he said, glancing back between the Sheriff and me. “Dead or alive.” 

Was he really suggesting what I think he’s suggesting? We’re going to wrap the two dead deputies up in body bags and take them out to Monroe and hope that she buys it? He’s insane. But this might be the best plan that we have right now. The Sheriff nodded in understanding before pulling his gun out and unloading 3 shots into the ceiling, hoping to convince those outside that he had just shot Jiang and Tierney. “You’ve got 5 minutes,” he said as Scott and I loaded the bodies into the bags and zipped them up. 

Liam stepped forward and stopped next to me before saying, “I’ll go.” He pushed me out of the way and leaned down to grab the bag but I grabbed his arm first. 

“No, you won’t,” I told him, staring into his eyes. Confusion wiped across his face, asking a silent ‘why?’ and I let go of his arm. “You’ve got a pack, Liam. People to look out for. Scott is the alpha, so he’s going out there no matter what anyone else says. But me? I’ve got no one, so I’m going too. You’re going to stay here and protect these people and your pack if things go wrong out there.” I gave him a stern look that told him I wasn’t going to let up from my stance and he just nodded. If Monroe didn’t buy what we were selling to her, the hunters are going to get in here and everyone in this station will need Liam if they have any hopes of getting out alive. He’s better for the job than I am. He can protect people, I can’t. 

I gave him a victorious smirk and bent over to grab the bag but this time Liam was grabbing my arm. I stood back up and looked at him with a scowl; I really did not want to fight about this. Instead of fighting me, he just whispered, “You’re not as alone as you think, Theo.” Before I could say anything back, he let go of my arm and moved across the room to stand next to Malia by the door. 

I was pulled out of my shock when Scott nudged me and muttered, “Let’s go.” I shook what just happened out of my head and focused on the task at hand. If we live through this, there will be plenty of time to dissect what Liam just said. Scott and I grabbed the body bags and dragged them out of the station, the Sheriff holding the door open and following us. 

Monroe came forward from behind her blockade and stood next to Stilinski. “They tried to run,” he said looking down at the bags. “Tried to take a few deputies with them. Either way, you got what you wanted.” 

A chill ran down my spine when Monroe looked Stilinski dead in the face and said, “Let me see their faces.” I stared up at her, hoping and praying to a God I don’t believe in that she would change her mind. There’s no way she knows what they actually look like, right? She wasn’t even there earlier. She can’t know. Scott and I shared a look before hesitantly and slowly opening the bags.

Monroe stepped even closer to get a better look but stopped once she saw their faces. Her expression was unreadable, and it worried me a little. After all, I am out here in the middle of this and could end up dead because of this stupid, stupid plan. And Liam and the others inside could end up dead too. I knew this was a terrible idea. “What’s wrong? You don’t recognize them?” Scott asked as he looked up at her. 

She moved her gaze between the bodies and said, “show me their tattoos.” Fuck. Scott muttered ‘what tattoos?’ in an almost convincing tone, _almost,_ and Monroe just smirked. “Their pack symbol.” 

I turned my head to Scott, “I guess we’re going to fight,” I whispered so only he could hear. This is exactly what I didn’t want. A fight. But as life has already proven to me many, many times, I don’t always get what I want. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stilinksi unbutton his gun holster and move to grab it, just in case. 

Before any of us could make a move, though, another voice boomed through the crowd, “Good thing you’re not the only ones that can negotiate.” A man in a suit, badge hanging from his neck, stepped through the clearing toward us. 

“Dad?” Scott asked. “What are you doing here?” 

“Making sure no one else dies tonight,” Scott’s dad said; a small smile on his face as he spoke with his son. He turned back to Monroe and spoke, “Let’s talk. Just the two of us.” She nodded and they both moved to talk somewhere private, Scott’s dad looking back mouthing ‘get inside.’ 

Scott and I shared a confused look once more before standing up and moving inside. Him, Liam, Malia, Lydia, Stilinski and I all entered the Sheriff’s office and waited for Papa McCall to come back inside. We waited for about 5 minutes before he emerged through the door saying, “Okay, here’s the deal.” He closed the door behind him before continuing, “You’re all going to leave Beacon Hills. All of you,” he emphasized with a pointed look at Scott. I honestly had no objections to this plan; I was planning on leaving Beacon Hills anyway. “And the two kids you have locked up back there will be transferred to FBI lockup.” 

“Scott, are you sure about this?” Lydia asked as she stared Scott’s father in the face. 

“I’m not,” Liam said as he dropped his head onto his crossed arms. “This deal sucks.” I shook my head, hoping he wouldn’t see me. This plan is the only thing that could potentially save us all. It’s the best thing we have right now; how could no one see that? I know they don’t like to run from trouble, but sometimes you have to retreat so you can live to fight another day. 

“Well it’s the only one on the table,” Papa McCall said. See, this man gets it. “In a situation like this, the best solution is to deescalate.”

Scott glanced around at his pack, exchanging glances with all of them. He’s not going to go for it. That’s not in his nature. I scratched my head nervously, not ready to make a tough decision once Scott said he wasn’t leaving, one that would involve choosing between safety and protecting Liam… and his pack. “Okay,” Scott said. My head jolted up and my eyes found his; what? Did he just agree to this? “We’ll go.” The other pack member’s heads sank a little at Scott’s decision, obviously not wanting to leave Beacon Hills to the Hunters but I couldn’t be happier. We all get to live. We’ll all be safe. Liam will be safe, which is strangely all I cared about in this moment. 

We all exited the station and watched as Jiang and Tierney were loaded into the FBI van and taken away. I looked over to Liam, who was watching as the van drove away, his face was sullen and defeated but at least he was going to live. He must have noticed my gaze because he turned his head and met my eyes for a moment but neither of us said anything, we just turned our heads back to the scene in front of us and I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. 

We all loaded up into another van and were taken to our homes to pack. Sitting in the van with the rest of the pack was weird. I knew I didn’t truly belong with them, but here I was, running away with them. Something, probably my Chimera, inside of me felt like there was something else at play here, and I should’ve known that that part of me would always be right. Instead of leaving Beacon Hills, the van brought us to the animal clinic, where we stayed for the night. The next morning, Scott informed us that we would in fact not be leaving Beacon Hills, we just needed everyone, including his father, to think that we were leaving Beacon Hills. Idiots. They’re all idiots. We’re all going to end up dead because of this, but I can’t bring myself to leave; the pack is going to need people to fight by their side, _Liam_ will need someone to fight by his side. I sat against the wall of the clinic, looking down at my hands as the bell to the clinic chimed, announcing that someone had entered the building. 

Mason’s voice came sounding through the clinic as he shouted, “You lied to me!” He was yelling at Corey, who couldn’t even answer before Liam was saying, “We all did.” Mason came around the corner and came face to face to with all of us. “So, this was the plan all along?” Mason asked. 

“Sorry, Mason,” Scott said with a sincere tone. “My dad had to believe we left Beacon Hills. Everyone did.” 

“What happens next?” Mason asked. “We fight back now, right?” 

I glanced up from my hands as Scott chuckled and said, “What’d you think we were going to do? Run?” No turning back now. I’m in this until the end. Win or Lose, I’m going down fighting with this pack. With Liam.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!! All feedback is appreciated :) I don't know exactly how long this will end up being or how often I'll be able to post, so please bare with me! I am going to try to update at least once a week, though! If you'd like, you can also follow me on Instagram, @thiam_is_real ; I will try to update there on when a new chapter will be coming out. 
> 
> If you notice any issues, please let me know and I will fix them!
> 
> Thank you all again!


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